Safety in Numbers
by Scarlett7
Summary: COMPLETE! The socs used to be their biggest problem, but now a killer is walking the streets of Tulsa... and only Johnny knows. If the gang finds out, it could cost both Ponyboy and Johnny thier lives.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from "The Outsiders". 

A huge "thank you" to bella1878, Modest Vanity, jkb, buzzbuzz16, sissy, Vampire-Slaying-Greaser-Gal, Lucky, Tashue, Starstruck, gryphongirl, Flamingo, and shadowed memory for reviewing my first story, "So You're Leaving". I had so much fun with that and I loved reading the reviews. So here's another, hope you enjoy it!!!

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It had been all over the local news for weeks. Five teenagers murdered, the first two bodies found mutilated and strewn about in an abandoned warehouse near the riverbed, two more found decapitated in a field. One had been buried alive. Darry put down his coffee cup and stared pensively at the TV. Another day was beginning with a killer roaming the streets of his town. He was used to hearing about stuff like that happening in places like New York or L.A., but here? He stood up and turned off the television. I need to stop watching this, he thought. It was driving him nuts.

He walked down the hall and yelled into Pony's room that it was time to get up and get ready for school. Pony groaned and sat up. Soda was just getting out of the shower and Johnny was curled up asleep on the sofa. Nothing unusual about this day, Darry thought, looking around. Except that there's a murderer walking around out there that preys on teenage kids.

It had started out about 20 miles from the Curtis' house, but the last two had been much closer, and Darry couldn't help worrying over the idea that the killer had specifically targeted kids from low income families and runaways. But, then again, he reminded himself, weren't they the easiest targets? Most of them walked home from school, like Ponyboy. Some of them slept out in vacant lots to stay away from their parents like Johnny. A few could end up so liquored up by the end of the night that they barely knew what was going on, like Two-Bit. 

Darry had started making sure that Pony was picked up from school if Steve or Two-bit were not there to walk him home, and Johnny was NOT allowed to sleep in the lot any more. Darry set out blankets and pillows for him every night if he decided not to sleep at home. There wasn't much he could do about the rest of the gang. They were too independent to take any orders from him. But luckily, he noticed, they were concerned enough for Ponyboy and Johnny that they stuck around most of the time anyway. 

When the first murder happened, the whole gang saw it on the news and they all wondered if the Socs were involved somehow, even though the news casters stated that the event did not appear to be gang related. It seemed a bit extreme for them anyway, but maybe a group had finally decide to push the limits and see what they could get away with. Eventually, however, they were all finally convinced that this was the work of someone far more evil than even the Socs. Someone much more intelligent, too. Darry had never worried for his brothers more than he had right then. 

Johnny and Ponyboy had tried not to act any different, but Darry could tell they were both scared to death. He tried to keep them away from the news, but still make them aware of how serious the whole thing was. They always found out the gory details from somewhere, though. In a way, it helped Darry. He never had to tell either one of them anything twice. They did exactly as they were told. Pony never complained once about being picked up from school. Johnny spent every night in their livingroom. And both boys pretty much stayed in the house once the sun went down. 

One night, after he thought everyone was asleep, Pony crept out into the livingroom to talk to Johnny. Darry was awake and overheard most of what was said.

"Johnny?" Pony whispered. "You awake?"

"Yeah. What's wrong?"

There was a long pause.

"I dunno. I can't sleep. I'm a little creeped out... I guess."

There was another long pause.

"Yeah.... me too." Johnny said quietly.

"Do you think they'll ever catch him?"

"Sure," Johnny was trying to sound convincing and failing miserably. "Hey, don't worry about it, man. We'll be all right...."

"Yeah, I guess... I suppose the guy doesn't have much chance of catching us since none of us are alone much anymore. Boy, even Dal has been hanging around a lot more. It's like he's.... worried or something..."

"That's crazy," Johnny said. "Dally doesn't worry about anything! He's probably hoping to catch the guy messing with one of the gang so he can beat the tar out of him." The admiration in Johnny's voice was unmistakable.

Darry got up and walked quietly into the livingroom, unintentionally scaring the life out of both boys. They both sucked in their breath and jumped.

"Sorry, it's just me..." 

Darry looked at the two boys sitting in the livingroom, and suddenly, his heart began to break. They looked so young, so scared. Why did there have to be people out there that would hurt them? People whose very existence frightened them so much that they couldn't sleep at night in a house full of people... 

Johnny was sitting up at one end of the couch, his knees pulled into his chest. His big, black eyes betraying his fear in an otherwise stoic expression. Pony was at the other end, looking tired and nervous. Darry came and sat in between them. He put one hand on Johnny's shoulder and took Ponyboy under his other arm. Pony leaned into him, trembling slightly.

"Now listen, you two, " he said looking from one to the other. "You're safe here. Nobody is going to hurt you. Either one of you. I'm right there, " he pointed to his bedroom door. "I'm close enough to hear if you're in trouble, and I will kick any ass that tries to hurt you, you got that?"

The boys both laughed a little.

"It'll be OK. We're all keeping an eye out for eachother. And as for Dally, well, he's just as-"

At that moment, Dally came sauntering through the front door.

"Dally's just as what?" he asked curious.

"Just as... angry as the rest of us that this psycho isn't behind bars yet." Darry had thought better of finishing his original sentence which would have replaced "angry" with "worried". He knew Dally was scared for the kids. But he also knew Dally would never admit to it.

"That's right," Dally said, lighting up a cigarette. "If he tries anything where I can get to him I'll..." Dally went on about what he would do and then proceeded to cuss the guy out in a way that only Dallas could.

Johnny glanced knowingly at Ponyboy, and both of them listened in awe to Dallas ramble on.

"Dally! Take it outside," Darry warned, referring to the cigarette, but implying the dialog as well. 

Dally shrugged and headed out to the porch.

Darry stood and turned to Ponyboy. "Now listen, kiddo. It's a school night and you need to get some sleep. Let's go."

He helped Pony up and nudged him down the hall to his room. Pony climbed into bed beside Soda who was dead to the world.

Darry pulled the blankets up around him. He leaned over and whispered to him so as not to wake Soda, "You're gonna be ok, Ponyboy. Go to sleep."

Darry went back to the living room. "You OK, Johnnycake?"

Johnny nodded. 

"Looks like Dally's gonna stay tonight, too. He's keeping a good eye on you and Ponyboy..."

That much was true, Johnny thought. During the day time, Dally had been around a lot more. He usually didn't make an appearance before 3 or 4 in the afternoon, but lately he'd been showing up much earlier. He'd stop by the Curtis place if Johnny had stayed there, sometimes waking him up right after Ponyboy left for school to see if he wanted to "go hunt some action". A lot of times they'd walk over to the school and have lunch with Pony, and Dally would always try to get him to cut class. Johnny didn't like that because he knew Darry would be furious, but apparently, so did Pony because he always declined. At night Dally always asked Johnny where he was going to stay before he took off. A few time Johnny actually decided to sleep at home and Dally would always walk him there. Once, he took him back to Darry's when they showed up at his house and his parents were screaming at eachother. That time, Johnny had suggested that he just stay in the lot. 

"One night's not going to hurt anything," he'd said.

Dally had grabbed his coat collar and growled, "You are NOT staying out here alone till they catch this guy, understand?" Then he softened his tone. "We don't want anything to happen to you, kid."

And on Friday nights and weekends, Dally had pretty much gone everywhere with Pony and Johnny if no one else was with them.

Maybe he _is_ worried, Johnny thought for a minute. Then he almost laughed out loud. Dallas Winston wasn't afraid of anything. Darry had probably asked him to watch out for him and Ponyboy. Dally didn't worry, but he was loyal to the gang, and he'd help out if Darry asked him to. 

"Hey, you go ahead and wake me up if you need anything, all right?" Darry said, breaking Johnny's train of thought.

"All right, Darry," he replied. 

Darry ruffled his hair and headed off to bed.

Johnny was drifting off when he heard Dally come back in from the porch and plop down in the armchair across the room. Johnny relaxed a bit then. 

Boy, Johnny thought. I sure wish they'd catch this guy. 


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you all for taking the time to write such detailed reviews! I loved reading them, you guys really made my week! I will try to update as often as possible. I actually have most of the chapters complete, I'm just trying to fill in gaps and make things make sense... that's taking longer than I thought!

**jkb-** I'm going to borrow your idea of doing a quick response to the reviewers (At least for this chapter- I take long enough to write as it is!!). I hope that's OK! You are too cute- you had my story reviewed before I could even get it to appear on my computer! I will keep the updates coming. I am flattered that you like my writing (I'm still in awe over the ending of your last story- that was quite a twist!) Thanks for the nice review!

**MissLKid-** Thanks!! Glad you liked it.

**ModestVanity-** Thank you for your very thoughtful review. I was always impressed with the way S.E. Hinton portrayed the whole Johnny and Dally relationshop so subtly. 

**AnnaBella-** I think you might like this chapter.... :)

**Ruth-** Thank you! Here's more for you!!

**shyxshortiexbaby-** Thanks for the review, hope you like chapter 2!

**gryphon** **girl-** OK, I'm finally posting a story, I guess I'll keep my job. Nightmare on Elm Street, huh? Ha Ha!! Thanks for the review!!

**Deadly-** Thank you. I thought a suspense story might be fun to write, I'm glad you like it!

**VSGG-** You are TOO kind!! Thank you for the very flattering review. When I was trying to get brave enough to write a story, you were one of the writers that inspired me, so your compliments mean a lot! And I agree, there are some really talented writers posting. I am not getting much sleep anymore because I'm always reading new fanfic!

**Starstruck-** Thanks! I always thought it was kind of funny how Johnny's a bit clueless about how Dally feels. He's blinded by his hero-worship, I guess!

**Lisa-** Yay!! That's the effect I'm going for. Hopefully I can pull it all together by the end...

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It was a Tuesday when the killer was finally apprehended. Darry had come home to find the entire gang sitting in the livingroom, staring at the television.

"What's going on?" he asked. He'd never seen them so intent.

"Shhh!!" They all motioned for him to be quiet.

He walked into the room to see what had captured their attention.

There on the TV was an angry looking man in his mid to late forties who was being accused of committing all the recent murders. The authorities were referring to him only as "Jack" for the time being.

Apparently, according to the newscasters, he had finally slipped up and one of his victims had escaped. The boy described him to the police and he was taken into custody within 24 hours. The boy also went into detail about how the killer had attacked him in the woods as he was walking home from school. The man had been wearing a ski mask and carried a large knife. He had tied the boy up, forced him into the trunk of his car and brought him to an old cemetery. He had taken off his mask by then and was preparing to throw the boy into a freshly dug grave and bury him alive like he'd done to his last victim, when a group of kids emerged from behind a moseleum. 

Darry recognized some of the kids on TV. Socs, of course, probably having one of their many beer blasts and thinking they'd just encountered a couple greasers they could jump in the cemetery. 

"Hey!" Soda said, pointing to one of the Socs. "I know him! That's Ricky- we used to hang out together when we were really little and his parents lived closer to this side of town!"

Darry nodded. "And there's Paul."

"And I've seen the rest of those guys at school," Steve added, shaking his head in disgust.

Now they were being hailed as heros for rescuing the kid and bringing the murderer to justice. Ordinarily, Darry would've been a little pissed at the irony of the situation, but right now, he was just glad they could all sleep a little easier. The rest of the gang had booed at the TV when they saw how the Socs had become celebrities, and they started throwing empty beer cans at the screen until Darry told them if they broke it, there would be no more TV. 

By Friday, everything had pretty much returned to normal. Darry was sitting at the kitchen table paying bills, Steve, Two-bit and Dally were out doing heaven knows what, and Ponyboy, Soda and Johnny were sitting with their eyes glued to the television. One channel was running an all night horror marathon. It had started around 8 and they were on the third movie. 

That's just what you three need, Darry thought. Something else to scare you now that they've caught the "Tulsa Ripper". Everyone else seemed to have found peace of mind after "Jack" had been caught. But Darry just didn't like the fact that the murders had happened in the first place. He couldn't seem to settle his nerves about the whole thing.

"I'm going to bed," Darry called into the livingroom.

None of them looked up, one of them yelled "good night", Darry just rolled his eyes. 

It was around 1:00 in the morning or so when they saw a shadowy figure pass by the window. All three of them sat up straight and looked at eachother.

"What was that?" Pony asked.

Soda shrugged. "Probably nothing."

Johnny looked nervously towards the front door.

"Don't worry, guys, it's just the wind moving the tree branches around." Soda reassured them.

They went back to staring at the TV and tried to forget about it. But the movies had made them all a bit jumpy and now they were focusing more on the noises going on around them than on the film.

They all jumped when they heard the loud thud on the porch.

Soda turned off the TV. Everything got quiet and only the sound of crickets and cars passing in the distance could be heard. All the lights were out in the house and without the TV, the street lights cast the only light in the room. 

"I'll go check it out," Soda got up before either of the other two could stop him. He thought briefly about waking Darry, but then decided not to.

Johnny and Pony looked at eachother nervously.

Outside, Soda didn't see anything unusual. There was a slight breeze blowing and everything looked like it always did. He took a step closer to the edge of the porch.

Then there was a bit of rustling in the bushes and a head poked around the side of the railing. It was Two-bit. 

Soda was about to say something, but Two-bit raised his finger to his lips and motioned for Soda to come down off the porch. 

Soda grinned and jumped into the bushes beside the slightly intoxicated greaser. Two-bit hadn't stopped smiling the whole time. And it was a smile that plainly said he was up to something.

Soda almost fell down laughing when Two-bit pulled a ski mask out of his back pocket and proceded to put it on and crouch down beside the bushes. They both knew it was just a matter of time before Pony and Johnny would come out to look for Soda. 

And they didn't have to wait too long. After about thirty seconds, just long enough for Two-bit to adjust the mask so he could see out of the eye holes, two heads cautiously peered out from behind the screen door.

"Soda?" Ponyboy called.

Soda felt a pang of guilt, but this was too perfect.

"I'm going out," Pony said. 

Johnny followed. 

As the two boys stepped out on the porch Soda suddenly remembered that it was not such a great idea to spook Johnny. He was jumpy enough already. But it was too late. Two-bit leapt from the bushes and screamed "All alone kids?"

Both boys went white and they stared for an instant, frozen. Two-bit had stayed a good distance back from both of them for fear one of them might pull a blade. But since the door was closer to them than Two-bit was, they both ran back into the house, slamming the door behind them. 

Soda and Two-bit could still hear them yelling, "DARRY!!!"

Soda's stomach went cold. But he laughed anyhow. Darry was NOT going to appreciate the humor of this.

Two-bit was doubled over with laughter. He had pullled the mask off and was stumbling up the steps of the porch (with great difficulty) to reassure the boys that he was not a killer. He only made it as far as the first step before he had to stop and catch his breath from laughing so hard. Tears were streaming down his face.

Darry appeared in the doorway, his arms folded and Ponyboy and Johnny following right at his heels. They had heard the laughter coming form the porch and realized who it was before they actually saw Two-bit slip and roll right down the steps and land in the grass, still laughing.

Ponyboy grinned in relief and bounded off the steps, landed on Two-bit and playfully punched him in the arm over and over.

Soda looked up at Johnny, a little worried. He was very pale. But after a couple seconds, a grin spread across his face too, and he ran down the steps to help Pony.

Soda, not wanting to be left out, piled right on top of Two-bit till they were all nearly crushing him and he begged for mercy.

Darry stood there watching them, shaking his head. "Some people have to work in the morning, you know!"

"Did...did you see... their faces???" Two-bit could barely breathe.

Darry came down the steps and broke up the wrestling match. He pulled Two-bit to his feet. Turning back to Pony and Johnny, he said, "Time to call it a night, you two."

"Aww, but Darry-" Ponyboy started.

All Darry had to do was look at him and he closed his mouth.

Darry bent down a little and put a hand on Johnny's shoulder. "You all right, Johnnycake?" he asked.

Johnny just nodded. 

"All right," he said and gave them both a playful shove towards the house.

"Now, YOU ought to know better," he said turning to Soda once the boys were inside.

Soda looked away. Pony still had nightmares occasionally and this certainly wouldn't help. And Johnny.... well, that was just stupid. He _should_ have known better than to let Two-bit scare Johnny like that. He had forgotten. But Johnny seemed all right.

And Two-bit thought so too. "C'mon, Darry. They loved it! They were both laughing..."

Soda knew Darry wasn't really that mad. In fact, Darry must have found the whole situation at least a little amusing or they'd all be catching hell right now. And it was hard not to think the whole thing was at least a little funny, because Two-bit was just..._funny_.

"You're lucky they're all right... you shouldn't scare Johnny like that. Or Pony either for that matter. You won't be laughing so hard when I wake you up at 5:30 tomorrow morning. That's what time I have to get up. And if Pony has a nightmare, Soda, you go get Two-bit and make him take care of it. You asked for it, funny man." Darry tried his best to look angry, but it wasn't working.

"I.. I'm sorry, Darry," Two-bit said through stifled laughter. "I couldn't help myself."

Darry just looked at him.

And then in almost a whisper, Two-bit asked again, "Did you see their faces?"

Darry let a laugh escape. "You're crazy, you know that?"

"That's what they keep telling me," Two-bit said proudly.

They all turned and headed towards the house and out of the corner of his eye, Darry happened to see a figure way off in the distance, standing on the far side of the vacant lot, watching them. For whatever reason, it sent a chill up his spine. 


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you again to all of you who reviewed the last chapter!! I LOVE reading your reviews, and I appreciate so much the time all of you take to write to me! Hope you enjoy the next chapter....

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The weekend came and went and everything seemed back to normal. Even Darry had pretty much settled down by Monday. The only difference was that Johnny spent a lot more time at the Curtis house and less time off by himself in the lot, but the whole gang felt pretty good about that.

Tuesday marked a full week of calmer nerves for all seven of the boys. Pony had gone off to school a few hours ago, and Darry and Soda were at work when Johnny hopped up the steps of the Curtis residence. It was mid afternoon. No one was home, but Soda had told him that he would be home first tonight since he had worked the early shift. It was Soda's night to cook dinner so Johnny thought maybe he could help him out a bit and possibly spare them all the agony of eating another of Soda's strange concoctions.

It was starting to rain so he headed into the house. Darry had told him over and over, 'come by anytime, whether we're here or not'. He walked into the kitchen and was about open the refrigerator for a glass of milk when the phone rang.

Johnny picked it up. "Hello?"

There was no answer, but he could tell someone was there.

"Hello?" he said again. Then he shrugged and hung up.

He jumped when the phone rang again almost as soon as he'd put it down.

He picked it up and before he could say anything, a raspy voice hissed, "I know where you are..."

Obviously, since you called, Johnny thought. But the hairs on the back of his neck were starting to stand on end.

"You're in the kitchen.... by the stove." 

Johnny didn't say anything. He was standing right next to the stove.

"That's right, I can see you."

Johnny tried to rationalize what was happening. Almost everyone's phone is in the kitchen, every kitchen has a stove....

"Where do you think I am?" the voice asked.

Johnny still said nothing, but a sick feeling was forming in his stomach. There was another phone in the livingroom, but he'd just been in there.

The voice on the other end let out a quiet but menacing laugh. "I'm in the bedroom... on the other phone!"

Johnny spun around and looked down the hall. Darry's bedroom door was open just a crack.

"GET OUT OF THE HOUSE, GREASER, OR YOU'RE DEAD!!" The voice screamed into the phone. 

Johnny dropped the receiver and ran out to the porch. But once he was out there, he didn't feel much safer. Was there even a phone in the bedroom? He didn't think the Curtises had more than two phones. What if the psycho just wanted him to come outside? 

He sat down on the bottom step of the porch where he could see the door of the house and most of the surrounding area. He was breathing rapidly and shivering, both from cold and fear.

The rain was coming down a little harder now.

Someone would be home soon, he hoped.

It was, of course, Soda who arrived first. He walked up the driveway and found Johnny sitting on the bottom step of the front porch, looking pretty wet and more than a bit nervous.

"Hey, kiddo," he said running up to him. "Whatcha doin'?"

Johnny just looked at him. Soda was soaked too from walking home in the rain, but he still looked like his happy-go-lucky self. 

Soda got down beside him. "You're always welcome to go inside, you know that, right? You don't have to stay out here, it's kinda rainy..."

"I know," Johnny looked down. "I was inside for a while..."

Soda studied him for a moment. He was shivering. Something had happened, he wasn't sure what. "What's wrong, Johnny?" he finally asked.

Johnny hesitated. He knew fear was written all over his face, and Soda didn't look like he was going to let this go. "Uh... some guy kept calling... it was creeping me out."

"What guy? What did he say?"

Johnny shuddered, remembering. He struggled to keep his composure because he really wanted to tell someone, but he was so scared. "He.. he was just saying stuff to scare me.. "

"What kind of stuff?"

Johnny looked at his shoes.

"Johnny..."

Johnny swallowed hard. "He kept saying...he knew where I was... it was like he was watching me and he could see what I was doing.." Johnny was losing his battle to fight tears and words were just spilling out of his mouth now. "He called twice.. he said he was already in the house and he was calling from a phone in the bedroom and I don't even know if there _is_ a phone in the bedroom, but I got really scared and so I came out here and sat on the steps because I knew one of you would be home after a while-"

Soda sat down next to Johnny and put his arm around him. "Johnny, there's no phone in the bedroom. He was making all that up to scare you. We only have the two phones... you poor kid..." 

Soda could feel anger mixed in with his concern for Johnny. Who would do this? And would it happen again? Would it happen to Pony? The two kids had been pretty shaken up over the news casts from the previous week and some jerk knew it and was playing off their fears.

Johnny just stared at his shoes. Soda sat there holding him for a minute until he calmed down a little. 

"We thought we were really moving up in the world when we got that second phone for the livingroom!" Soda said, trying to lighten the mood. "I mean, hey, we're practically socs now! Man, if we had three phones, do you think we'd even be livin' on this side of town anymore?"

Johnny looked at him for a second, then he finally smiled just a little. That was good enough for Soda.

"C'mon, let's go inside and start dinner. Pony and Darry will be home soon and they're always half starved. You hungry?" 

"Yeah," 

Johnny followed Soda into the house.

Soda did his best to put on a brave face. He didn't spook too easily, but this was a little creepy.

And they both jumped when the door swung open behind them.

Dally walked in and gave them both a curious look. "What's with you two?" he asked, lighting a cigarette.

Soda let out his breath and tugged at Dally's arm. "C'mon, Dally! You know Darry doesn't like people to smoke in the house."

"Darry's not here- Johnny how long were you hanging out in the rain? You're gonna get sick," he said walking over to the hall closet. He pulled out a towel and threw it to Johnny. 

Johnny dried his hair a bit, put the towel around his shoulders and sat down in the livingroom. He was only wearing a t-shirt and now, he had to admit, he was getting cold.

Dally followed Soda into the kitchen. He had immediately noticed Johnny's nervousness and Soda seemed somewhat jumpy as well, which was unusual. "What's going on?"

Soda started getting out stuff for dinner. He hesitated for a second, not wanting to make a big deal out of the whole thing and embarrass Johnny. "Oh, some jerk has been making prank calls."

"What's he sayin'?"

"Oh, I don't know. He's just trying to scare people."

Dally wasn't satisfied with that as an answer, and Soda wasn't surprised. "Care to be more specific?"

Soda sighed and started to say something, but Johnny came in.

"It's nothing, Dal," Johnny said and explained to him what had happened. 

Dally just took a long drag on his cigarette and didn't look very happy. "Two-bit," he said finally.

"Huh?" Soda and Johnny said together.

Dally flicked his cigarette into the sink and looked up. His eyes were blazing, but he was calm. That was when he was the most dangerous.

"It's Two-bit again," he said angrily. Dally had found out about Two-bit's ski mask prank and had threatened to pound him into the ground if he ever did anything like that again. He hadn't found it funny at all. Now he was convinced it was Two-bit making the phone calls and he was really mad.

"N..no... I really don't think it was Two-bit," Johnny said. He wasn't one hundred percent sure, but he knew Two-bit would get it if Dally thought he'd done something like that.

"He's really pushing it."

"C'mon, Dally," Soda pleaded. "Two-bit wouldn't do that to Johnny, you know that!"

"After that stunt he pulled Friday? I don't know what he'd do! And I swear, if he thinks he's gonna mess with Johnny I-"

"Who's gonna mess with Johnny?" came a voice from the livingroom.

Two-bit came hurrying into the kitchen ready to rumble with anybody who'd bother Johnny. But he was met with only an angry glare from Dally.

Soda immediately stepped between them. Johnny just looked away, uncomfortable at the thought of being the one causing conflict.

"Two-bit, you didn't make any prank phone calls over here today, did you?"

Two-bit looked at everyone innocently. "No, why?"

Dallas seemed to relax a little. He took a last drag on his cigarette and threw the remains in the sink. Two-bit was great at joking, but terrible at lying. And he was definitely not lying now. Soda sighed in relief and went back to preparing dinner. It was looking like he'd need to cook extra food.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day Johnny was walking around in the woods near the school waiting for Pony to meet him. There was still about 20 minutes before the kids would exit the building and he was occupying himself with tossing rocks into a nearby puddle. He could see the school from where he was sitting, the woods weren't that thick. Usually he waited right outside the school, but the last couple days, some Socs had noticed him sitting outside and they'd come to the window and make faces or obscene gestures at him. That got annoying so he had started hanging out in the nearby woods. It was one of the few places around that actually felt "naturey" and he found he actually enjoyed sitting there. It was quiet and he could think.

But today, it was too quiet. He had noticed it right away. There were no birds singing or squirrels running around. After a few minutes, it started to make him a little nervous. He still had the jitters from that movie marathon and that stupid phone call. The hair on the back of his neck was standing on end. 

What is wrong with me? he thought angrily.

Just then, there was a soft cracking sound, as though someone had stepped on a branch. Johnny looked around, but didn't see anything. He looked towards the school and thought about walking a little closer to the building. 

Out of the corner of his eye he detected a slight movement and he turned his head just in time to see something move behind a tree.

It looked like a person. It was definitely time to move closer to the building. At least he could go inside if he needed to. 

He stood up, keeping his eye on where he'd seen the figure moving around. There were a lot of bushes and small trees and he couldn't see very well if there was anyone there or not. 

And then someone stepped out from behind the trees. 

It appeared to be a man of average height. He was wearing light colored pants and a black sweatshirt that appeared to be layered over more clothes. 

And he was wearing a ski mask.

Johnny's insides froze, he literally could not move for a second. And then remembered Two-bit's prank.

He stood there for a moment because part of his brain was telling him, it's Two-bit, don't run off again and look like an idiot. It had to be Two-bit. He was doing it again. This time, Johnny thought, maybe he'd just let Dally go after him. This was too much. 

But the guy was coming towards him quickly and something in the way the he moved told Johnny this was someone else. This was all happening in a split second and the part of his brain that was not telling him this was Two-bit was screaming, _RUN!_

Johnny tried to reach for his switchblade, keep his eyes on his pursuer and run at the same time which turned out to be a mistake. 

He tripped over a root and fell. By the time he got up, he was being tackled to the ground again.

And now he really couldn't move. He'd been attacked by a whole group of Socs before, but this was scarier. If this guy was who he appeared to be, Johnny knew he wouldn't have to worry about Socs anymore.

The man had Johnny by the hair and was kneeling on his back and pressing the side of his face against the ground. Johnny could smell alcohol on the his breath, and he got a brief look at his eyes through the holes of the ski mask.

It seemed like an eternity before he spoke.

"They didn't catch the real killer, you know." he hissed in Johnny's ear.

Johnny squeezed his eyes shut and tried to remember to breathe.

"Ever heard of a 'copy cat'? That guy in the cemetery, that's what he was. I wouldn't have made a mistake like that. That guy was a copy cat.....I'm the real killer."

Johnny didn't move. He could barely breath. He wasn't even trying to pretend that he wasn't scared. 

"You shouldn't be out here... walking around like you can just go anywhere you want... You know where your kind belongs!"

Oh, man, Johnny thought. This is it.

"But you're lucky," the man continued. "I'm not after you. I have a plan to follow. I'm laying low right now. I tell you what... I really want to follow my original plan. I'm not after you. But I will be if you tell anyone I was here. And I mean that.... don't think I don't watch. Don't think I don't know what you're doing. You tell anyone, and I'll know. And I'll kill you. And I'll kill your friend Ponyboy. I will make it my next goal."

Johnny's stomach turned. 

"That's right, I know who your friends are. And I can get them. You're easy. You're alone most of the time. And do you think they can watch Ponyboy every second of the day? He runs right through here all the time during his track practice. I've seen him! He's all alone then.... because he's so _fast_... He's always the first one through. But he's not faster than me! And if you tell ANYONE that I was here..... I _will_ kill him. Do you understand?"

By now, Johnny was feeling the onset of panic. He started to struggle. He felt a stabbing pain in his side as something sharp tore at his skin. The guy had a knife. Johnny cried out in pain.

"SHUT UP! Don't you move, or I swear I'll kill you right now!" the guy screamed. He actually sounded more nervous than threatening, Johnny noticed, but now was not the time to second guess him.

Johnny lay still, except for the fact that he was shaking.

"Don't you move," he said again. "Now, you remember what I said. I'm going to be leaving town when I finish my next job, but while I'm here, I'm watching your every move! I'm listening! You tell one person and I will kill you. And your friend."

And suddenly, the guy leaped up and took off, leaving Johnny lying there stunned.

When Johnny was sure he was gone, he sat up carefully. He was bleeding pretty bad from where the guy had cut him. He was shaking so much he didn't know if he could even walk, but school was about to let out and he had to get himself cleaned up before anyone saw him. He had to think about what he was going to do. He wanted to tell someone, but would that psycho really carry out his threat? Johnny's mind was racing. He tried to settle down. He took a few deep breaths and stood up. He headed back to the road going towards the school instead of back through the woods. He hoped he could get far enough away so that Ponyboy wouldn't see him when the final bell rang. 

All the way home he thought about what the guy had said... He knew things. He must be watching all the time, Johnny thought.

When he got back to his own neighborhood, he headed for his house. His father would be gone, and with any luck, his mother would just ignore him as usual. And she did. Johnny walked right in the front door, dripping with blood and limping from when he had fallen. She never looked up from the TV.

He went up to his room and found a towel that he wet in the sink and pressed on the cut. He winced in pain, but he kept pressing. He had to stop the bleeding. He lay down on his bed and held tightly to the towel. 

What am I going to do, he thought. Should I go to the police? Tell the guys? I can't... what about Ponyboy? Johnny thought about what might happen. He didn't want anything to happen to his friend. And Darry and Soda- how would they survive something happening to Ponyboy? Granted, Johnny didn't want to die either, but the threat on his friend's life was what was going to shut his mouth and keep it shut. 

He made up his mind then to stay quiet. At least for a little while. Maybe the guy would leave. Johnny gritted his teeth as he pulled the towel away from his skin. It had been about a half hour and the bleeding had pretty much stopped, but the cut looked bad. He hoped it didn't need stitches. He wondered if the Curtises would have some bandages. His parents never had stuff like that.

Johnny's father would be home soon and he really wanted to be gone before he got there. So he changed his shirt, which was now drenched in blood on the one side, and he went back down stairs. He was still carrying the towel and he used it to mop the blood off the floor that he'd left there when he came in.

He breathed deeply again, trying to settle his nerves as he stepped outside. He had to pull himself together. The guys would know something was up. But he was so scared....

There were lights on at the Curtis house. By the time he climbed the steps of their porch, he had stopped shaking and the pain in his side had dulled enough so that he could walk without cringing.

"Hey, Johnny!" Ponyboy called as Johnny walked through the front door. 

"Hey," Johnny replied, quietly.

"Just in time for dinner, kiddo." Darry yelled from the kitchen. 

No one seemed to notice anything and Johnny sighed in relief. Eventually, he sneaked off to the bathroom and found some gauze that he was able to tape to his side. His cut had started bleeding a little again, but luckily, he'd thought to put on a dark shirt.

It was pretty late that night when Dally showed up. And it didn't take him long to start eyeing Johnny curiously. Johnny groaned inwardly. He hoped Dally wouldn't confront him.

"What's with him tonight?" Dally asked Darry quietly in the other room.

"Hmm?" Darry looked up from some paper work he was doing. 

"Johnny... he's actin' funny.... like something happened, I don't know. Is he all right?"

"As far as I know. He didn't say anything, but I thought he seemed quieter than usual. He's probably got stuff going on at home again."

Dally looked at Johnny from across the room. Pony was lying on the floor and seemed engrossed in a TV show. Johnny looked like he was trying focus, but he was fidgety and he kept looking out the window.

Darry was probably right. Johnny's old man had probably worked him over again. It made Dally so angry. He hated that Johnny ever even went home. Why did he bother? Dally scowled and went to get a beer from the fridge.

He wandered into the livingroom and ruffled Johnny's hair as he walked by. "Hey, kid," he said casually. Dally sat down on the other side of the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. "What are you guys watchin'?"

"Nothing," they both replied in unison.

"Ahh... that's a good show." Dally replied.

They both looked up at him. Dally wasn't usually one for humor. It caught everyone off guard whenever he made even the slightest attempt at it.

Ponyboy grinned. So did Johnny, a little, but Dally caught the look in his eye. He was scared. Whatever his old man did this time, it really made an impact, Dally thought. He did his best not to show his anger. There wasn't much he could do now and Johnny certainly wouldn't talk about it.

"You going back out again tonight?" Johnny's voice broke into Dally's thoughts.

Dally had been considering it, but he wanted to keep an eye on Johnny, at least for a little while. "No, I think I'll probably call it a night and crash in the chair. Looks like a storms coming anyway." 

Johnny looked visibly relieved.

"It's probably time we all call it a night," Darry said coming into the living room with blankets and pillows for Johnny and Dally. "All right, Ponyboy?"

Pony yawned and didn't argue. It was late. Even Soda had already gone to bed. "Goodnight guys," he called over his shoulder as he walked towards his room.


	5. Chapter 5

Johnny picked up a pillow and blanket from where Darry had left them on the table, then he hopped up on the other side of the couch across from Dallas. He had gotten used to sleeping at the Curtis' and Darry always welcomed him to stay. The only stipulation was that Ponyboy had to get all his work done and they were not allowed to stay up all night waching television unless it was a Friday. 

Darry found that it was actually easier to get Ponyboy to finish his work now. He was pretty sure it was because Pony thought if he didn't, Darry might make Johnny go back to sleeping at his own house or in the lot. Of course, that would never happen. But Darry figured he would't tell Pony that.

Johnny laid his head on the pillow and pulled a blanket up around him. Thunder rumbled in the distance. He was glad that Dally was staying too. He hadn't really calmed down one bit since that guy had attacked him in the woods. He had gotten so worked up over the whole thing that he was completely exhausted and he fell asleep almost immediately.

"Sounds like a storm's coming..." Dally said absently as he stared at the TV. He was tired too, but didn't feel like sleeping just yet. 

Darry had turned off all the lights and the living room was bathed in the cool glow of the TV and the smell of wet grass as the rain started outside.

Dally looked over at Johnny. He was sleeping peacefully on his side of the couch, his legs curled up tight and the blanket covering his nose.

Dally started at the TV for another half hour. Finally his eyeslids started to droop and he sighed and stood up. He gently pulled Johhny's feet down towards where he'd been sitting so he could stretch out. 

Johnny stirred slightly but continued sleeping. He had looked so tired tonight, Dally figured it would take quite a bit to wake him. He pulled the blanket down to cover Johnny's feet and headed off to the chair. He picked up one of the blankets, sat down in the recliner and spread the blanket across his legs. Sleep was finally ready to take him. 

As he started to close his eyes, a flash of lightning illuminated the front porch and something caught his eye. For a second, he was sure someone had been standing there.

'That's ridiculous' he told himself. He watched the window for a minute or two, until finally, he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore and he fell asleep.

It wasn't very long before he was awakened by screaming. It was Johnny. He knew before he was even fully awake. His stomach went cold and the hairs on his neck stood on end. He'd seen

Johnny upset, he'd even seen him cry, but he'd NEVER heard him scream with that kind of intense fear. 

He was out of the chair and at Johnny's side without even knowing how he got there. He took Johnny by the shoulders. "Johnnycake, what's wrong??" he asked, surpressing the fear

rising in his own chest. 

Johnny was shaking and sobbing uncontrolably. He just didn't do that. Not that Dally had ever seen, anyway. He was timid and quiet, but with all he went through at home, it took a lot to get him really worked up. 

As soon as Dallas had reached him, Johnny had clutched at his shirt in terror.

"Johnny, hey... c'mon, it's all right..." Dally put his arms around him, his guard dropping, his tough, non-caring wall of aloofness crumbled and fell as though it had never existed. Even as Darry came running into the livingroom, he didn't let go of Johnny.

"Dally, what happened?" Darry said dropping to his knees beside the couch. He put his hand on Johnny's arm and felt him flinch. He had his face buried in Dally's shirt and Darry could feel him shaking, just like Ponyboy did when he woke up in the middle of the night. 

"I...I don't know. Shhh..It's ok, Johnny... he just woke up screamin' bloody murder.. I don't know," Dally said with more than just an edge of nervousness to his voice. 

Oh, man, Johnny thought. Had he really seen that? The eyes. The eyes were the same... but it was dark out. It _must_ have been a dream. He couldn't have seen it. But it was so real.... He'd opened his eyes, and there he was. The same mask, the same eyes, staring at him through the window, illuminated only for an instant by the lightening. He struggled to regain control, but he could barely breathe. Who was holding him? Dally? No. It wouldn't be Dally...Wait, yes.... it _was_ Dally. Thank God, he thought. Dally wouldn't let anyone hurt him... but he couldn't relax. His mind was so clouded with sleep and terror. 

Dallas was franticly trying to soothe Johnny, and Johnny was clinging to him, shivering. Tears streamed down his cheeks. "Dally.." he choked out between sobs. 

"Johnny, it's okay, I'm right here... Look at me! It's all right, buddy..." Dally's voice was shaky. He was trying to get Johnny to look at him, but Johnny's eyes were focused on the window.

"Johnny.... Hey, it's all right kid..." Darry rubbed his back. "You were just having a bad dream... It's ok.." 

Darry had one hand on Johnny's back and one hand on Dally's arm. Dally was about as frightened at the moment as Darry had ever seen him. It was very controlled, but Darry knew him well enough to see right through the front he was putting up. "He's ok, Dal. He just had a bad dream. I've seen Pony like this a hundred times... He's gonna be all right..."

"I know..." Dally whispered. 

But Darry could feel Dally shaking slightly, too, and he could hear the hesitation in his voice.

Thunder exploded outside. Johnny nearly jumped out of his skin. Dally held him tighter. "I'm right here, kid. You're all right, you're all right."

He had to tell them. "... not.. dreaming...." Johnny struggled to get the words out.

"What? No, kid, it was just a dream. We're right here. You're safe" Darry whispered.

Johnny was crying even more now "No..I... I saw him.."

"Who, baby?" Darry coaxed.

"S..somebody was on the porch."

"What?" A chill ran down Dally's spine as he remembered the image of someone on the porch. Was it possible that both he AND Johnny had imagined the same thing? He sat there for a minute, not wanting to let go of Johnny, but knowing that he had to go outside and see for himself. He looked at the window and then back at Johnny again. 

Dally chewed nervously at his lip. He pushed Johnny back and tilted his chin up to look at his eyes. "You wait right here. I'll be right back, kid."

He let go of Johnny and stood up. 

As he headed for the door, realization struck Johnny.

"DALLY! NO!!" Johnny grabbed his arm.

Dally turned and looked at him, startled. "I'm just going to poke my head out the door, kid. No big deal!"

Johnny pulled at Dally's sleeve and let out a soft whimper.

"Kid... "Dally stood there, hesitating. "It's ok. Don't be scared."

Darry stood up too. "Wait a minute- I'll come with you, Dal. Johnny, we'll be right back, OK?"

Soda had woken up by then and came into the living room scratching his head. "What's going on?"

"Nothin'. Hey, sit with Johnny a minute will you?" Darry asked.

Soda plopped himself down next to Johnny and put an arm around him. "You have a bad dream buddy?" Soda had seen Pony like that so many times it didn't phase him too much.

Johnny looked at him. "No, there was somebody outside," he said quietly, his eyes following the two older boys as they headed for the porch.

Soda looked at him for a minute and then smiled. "Aww.. you're REALLY tired aren't you, kid? That was just a dream..."

Just then Soda caught sight of the way Dally and Darry were walking to the door- carefully, like cats stalking prey. Something had given them reason to take this more seriously than a run of the mill bad dream.

He pretended he hadn't noticed and turned back to Johnny. "Did he have six inch fangs and claws?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

But it quickly became apparent that Johnny was in no mood for jokes. He just looked hurt.

Soda felt terrible and immediatley wished he hadn't said it. "Oh, Johnny, I'm sorry! I was just trying to make you laugh...Look, whatever you saw, I'm sure we're safe... with Darry and Dally together, what can touch us?"

Johnny finally smiled at him, but he was still shaking and looking pretty scared.


	6. Intermission

A note to all the people writing reviews- THANK YOU!!! I love reading them and they really keep me going! You've all been so encouraging! I will be posting a new chapter (hopefully) by Sunday night- busy weekend ahead!! 

**sliver-edges-** Updates are coming soon!! Hang in there! I'm so glad you like the story so far! Thanks for the review.

**Ponyboysgirl-** Thanks for reading! I'm glad my story is giving you a bit of a scare, that's the effect I'm going for!!

**jkb-** Thanks for the wonderful reviews. I enjoy hearing about which part of the chapters you liked best! You always go into detail- that makes your reviews so much fun to read! I think you've reviewed every chapter so far- Thank you!!

**Chase M. Dakota**- Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it!

**True-Slytherin-gurl-** I appreciate your reviews! Thanks for reading!

**Kimmerkay-** AAARGH!!! Don't go on vacation now! I'm just getting to the good part! Just kidding. I've enjoyed reading all your reviews, thanks a ton. And yes, I'd love to give Johnny a hug :) Have a great vacation and maybe I'll have a few new chapters for you to read when you get back!

**Pony's girl-** Thank you so much!! I hope you keep reading! And I also enjoyed your recent review of "So You're Leaving". Thanks for taking the time to read it. I know its a long one, but I'm really glad you liked it!

**Crimson-** Hey! Your screen name is kind of like mine!! Anyhow, thanks for the nice reviews. I figure if one of my readers is threatening to come after me with a ski mask if I kill anyone off, they must be enjoying the story! I know how you feel, I HATED that Dally and Johnny died in the book, but it was an important part of the story, unfortunately. I'd tell you what's going to happen in mine, but I think there would be a lot of people coming after me if I gave away the ending!! Keep reading, I'll finish it eventually!

**Kurupt emocions**- Thanks!! I really like reading your reviews. I am also enjoying your current story.... you ARE planning to continue it , right?? I found another story you wrote about Dally being a vampire or something that I hadn't seen before- I'm going to try to read that one soon!

**Cassie-** Thanks for all the reviews- I particularly enjoyed your most recent one. I am so excited that some people are actually a little freaked out while reading this! Glad you are enjoying my story and I hope I didn't totally ruin your babysitting experience!

**Miss L. Kid**- Another one of my faithful readers! Thanks for all your encouragement!

**wsk8r-** Thank you Thank you! You write such nice reviews!! I'm flattered that you like my story so much! And thank you also for reviewing "So You're Leaving". It's always nice to get new reviews on an older story! I check on it every now and then!

**DrunkOffOfSoda-** Part of the fun of reading the reviews is seeing all the screen names- this is a good one!! I'm glad my story is having that effect on you! Thank you for your nice review. "Crimson" is also concered about me killing off some of the characters, but as I said, I can't give away the ending (I DO actually have an ending in mind, believe it or not!!)

**VSGG-** Thanks for the great reviews. I love hearing from you. I can sympathize with the whole busy schedule thing! I appreciate that you take the time to write such detailed reviews anyways!

**Deadly-** Oh no!! You're leaving me too?? Hurry back, I like reading your reviews- thank you for writing them so often!!! I'm losing a few people to summer vacations, it looks like. I hope everyone keeps reading. And I hope you have a nice trip!! 

**Summer-** Glad you're enjoying the story, thanks for writing!

**shyXshortieXbabe-** Thank you for the nice reviews!! I'm glad you like it so far!

**Aaliyah Charity**- Thanks for the review! I hope you keep reading!

**ModestVanity-** I have a lot of fun reading your reviews! I like knowing how people felt about what was going on in a chapter. Thanks for taking the time to write about your thoughts!! I really appreciate that.

**Skye-** I plan to continue! Glad your enjoying the story!

**Scotty Baby**- Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like the story!

**Dark Little Fairy**- I will try to update ASAP for you!!! Thanks for the review!!

**Mackenzie-** Thank you for reviewing!! I hope you like the rest of the story!

**Roxie-** Thanks for the review. I will try to include Darry more for you!

**DreaminboutDal-** I LIKE your screen name!! That's a good one! Thanks for reading my story and for taking the time to write a nice review!

**Gryphon girl-** Thanks for the review- I loved reading it. I'm so glad you like the story! Yeah, I think I'm probably stealing a few ideas from all the horror movies I've ever seen, even though I think I'm just making it all up!! Just recently I was watching something and I thought "Uh oh! I wrote about that in my story. Is THAT where I got that idea?" Oh well. Thanks for reading!!!


	7. Chapter 6

Outside the rain poured down. Dally had hopped over the side of the porch and walked around the whole house before Darry had a chance to stop him. He came back up the front steps soaking wet and still not looking convinced that he'd thouroughly searched the place.

"Dal, don't you think maybe Johnny might have dreamed this? He's been under a lot of stress and he's tired-"

"I know, maybe he did, but I thought I saw someone out here too, just before I fell asleep. I figured I imagined it with the lightning and all, but now..."

"Dal! Why didn't you say something? Lock the door, come and get me- I don't know, something?!"

"I don't know! Like I said, I thought maybe it was just one of the boys, or I just imagined it. Maybe I did. Maybe Johnny did-" Dally stopped short as something caught his eye. He reached down into the shadows under the window and picked something up. It was a crushed beer can. He looked at it carefully and then held it up for Darry to see.

Darry looked at him. "We don't have that brand."he said softly.

Dally turned it over in his hands, thinking. "Maybe Two-bit carried it over from his house. Or Steve..."

"....Maybe." 

The two boys weren't sure what to do. 

"I think I'm going to call the police. " Darry said.

Dally didn't argue.

They went back in and Darry locked the door behind them.

"Dally, dry off. Johnny, everything's going to be all right, kid." Darry trailed off as he headed into the kitchen to use the phone.

"What's going on?" Soda asked, getting up to follow Darry into the kitchen.

Dally came back into the living room with a towel around his neck and went over to Johnny who was trembling slightly and looking off towards the kitchen. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach.

When Dally came in, he looked up at him with big, scared eyes. "I thought you were just going to 'stick your head out the door'?" Johnny said with as much indignance as he could summon.

Dally sat down with a slight grin. "Sorry," was all he said.

Johnny looked back towards the kitchen.

"You ok, Johnnycake?" Dally asked

Johnny nodded.

Darry came back into the livingroom.

"The police are going to send a car to do a patrol around the area." Darry said.

Johnny's stomach went cold. "You... you called the cops?" he asked in almost a whisper. The police? What if the ski mask guy thinks I told them? He thought in a panic.

Johnny tried to think straight. There wasn't much he could do now.What if they wanted to talk to him? His mind raced. No, no... they'll just drive around, Johnny reassured himself. And for this neighborhood, they might not even bother to come out. 

"Just to be safe- what's the matter kid?" Darry's voice broke into his thoughts.

Johnny realized he was staring at Darry and quickly stopped. 

Darry got down beside Johnny. "I locked the door tonight, kid. Everything's all right. We're all safe here. Soda, where are you sleeping tonight, are you in with Pony?"

Darry had explained everything that was going on to Soda, who now looked almost as scared as Johnny. "I wasn't, but I am now! So if you want my room, Johnny, you're welcome to it."

"What do you say, kid, would you feel better in there? Or are you comfortable out here?"

"I'm fine right here. Look, I'm sorry I woke you all up... I probably did just dream it..."

Hey- don't you worry about wakin' anybody up," Darry said. "You need ANYTHING, and anyone of us will help you out, whatever time of day or night it is. Now, if you're comfortable right here that's fine. Dally, I want you to stay here tonight, we don't need anybody wandering around out in this weather. You take care of Johnny."

"I'll take care of Johnny," Dally said grabbing Johnny around the neck, bending him forward and messing up his hair.

Johnny forced himself not to cringe as a wave of pain shot through his side. He gave Dally a half hearted smile. He was still scared.

"All right, I guess we can all get some sleep then." Darry smoothed out Johnny's hair, fixing the mess Dally had made of it and told him, "you wake me up if you need me. Or if Dally isn't doing a good job of lookin' out for you-"

At that point, Darry got a bit of a slug form Dally. Not a real one, Dally knew better than to mess with Darry. And Darry knew better than to mess with Dally.

"Darry?" Johnny asked quietly as Darry headed towards his room.

"Yeah kiddo?" he asked turning back to Johnny.

"The cops... they aren't going to ask to talk to me, are they?" he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Darry chuckled a little. "No, Johnny, they're just going to drive around. OK?"

Johnny sighed in relief and nodded. 

"OK," Darry patted his shoulder."You settle down and go to sleep now."

Johnny fiddled with the blankets, but didn't lie down

Dally was standing by the window looking out at the rain. Johnny had his back to him and Dally looked over at him curiously. He could tell that Johnny was still very unsettled about the whole incident. Dally was somewhat unsettled himself. Something was up with Johnny. Something in his eyes.... He walked over and sat down on the edge of the couch. Johnny avoided his gaze.

"You feelin' a little better, Johnnycake?"

Johnny nodded.

"So, uh.. what scared you so bad anyhow, about the guy that you saw? I mean... you were pretty worked up..."

Johnny looked embarrassed.

"Hey, it's ok, Johnny, I was just wonderin' if there was anything you weren't telling us."

Johnny wanted to tell Dally about the guy in the woods. He wanted to tell someone so badly, but he couldn't forget the threat.... 

_I will kill your friend Ponyboy. I will make it my next goal..._

No, Johnny thought, I can't risk Ponyboy's life.

Johnny was getting really scared again. His breathing was getting rapid and he was shaking. 

Dally could tell he was going to get nowhere with this. And he hated making Johnny talk about things he didn't want to talk about, even though sometimes he wondered if it would be good for Johnny to just _make_ him talk.

There was a loud clap of thunder and Johnny flinched slightly and drew in a quick breath.

"Easy, kid. It's all right. I'm gonna stay right here tonight," Dally reassured him with his hand 

on Johnny's arm. 

He was sure of it now. There was something Johnny was not telling him, but he decided not to press him for information tonight. He had looked so exhausted. 

Johnny closed his eyes and let out his breath. When he opened his eyes, Dally could see how scared he was, and how tired.

"All right, lie down," Dally said, pushing Johnny gently towards the pillow.

Johnny laid back but made no attempt at sleeping.

"Close your eyes..." Dally whispered.

"I'm not tired,"Johnny said, trying to sound convincing and stifling a yawn.

Dally was NOT buying it. He raised his eyebrows and the slightest hint of a smile passed over his face. "Yes, you are," he said adamantly.

Johnny looked at him pleadingly. He wasn't ready to go back to sleep, but his eyelids were so heavy...

"C'mon, don't look at me like that...it's all right, I'll be right here...."

Johnny couldn't keep his eyes open any more. As much as he tried to fight it.

"I'll be right here," he felt Dally push his hair back off his forehead. The sound of his voice began lulling him into a state of calm. "Don't worry kid, you're safe. Just go to sleep...."

Dally sat beside him until his breathing grew slow and steady. As he was sitting there, he noticed a dark stain on the side of Johnny's shirt, just above the blanket. His shirt was faded black and the stain sat right about where his arm would have covered it had he been standing, so no one had noticed it before. 

Johnny was already in a deep sleep. Dally carefully pulled the blanket down a little and very gingerly lifted up the edge of the t-shirt. He drew in a quick breath at what he saw. 

A bloody gauze bandage was taped to his side covering what appeared to be about a 6 inch gash. What he could see of It looked deep and fairly new.

"What happened to you, kid?" Dally whispered almost inaudibly.

Had his old man done that to him? Dally could feel intense rage building deep inside him. I'd kill him, Dally thought. I swear, someday... I don't even care if they send me to The Chair.

It was all he could do to keep himself from shaking Johnny awake and insisting that Johnny tell him who did it so he could go and beat the life out of the person right then and there. But Dally didn't really feel that he needed to ask him. He had a pretty good idea of who was at fault. He got up and started pacing. He wondered if he should at least wake Johnny so he could clean the cut up a little better.

First he had to get himself settled down, he was so angry at Johnny's father. Dally stood at the window for a long time, contemplating the situation and trying to calm himself.

Suddenly, he saw movement on the porch. His stomach went cold. Someone _was_ out there! 

He grabbed a beer bottle and stood beside the door. 

The knob rattled.


	8. Chapter 7

OK, I just want to let everyone know that I'm going away for two weeks, so there will be a break in my updates for a little while. I have NOT abandoned the story!!! I will continue as soon as I get back. Thank you SO much for the wonderful reviews, I will also reply to those when I get back. Enjoy the next chapter and I'll update again in about 2 weeks!

**************************************************************

Dally stood beside the door, poised and ready to smash the beer bottle over the head of anybody who tried to come into the house. 

But the door was locked. He was about to reach over and turn on the porch light to see who was there when he heard a loud voice on the other side of the door say, "What the hell?"

Dally let out his breath and opened the door. 

Two-bit stood there, soaking wet and looking a bit surprised.

"Get in here," Dally hissed.

"What's going on, Dal? Why's the door locked?"

Dally looked past him to the couch where Johnny was now sitting up, white as a sheet and staring wide eyed at the door. His eyes were glazed with sleep and presumably he had no idea who had just come in.

"Dammit, Two-bit!" Dally growled and pushed past him. 

"What?" Two-bit was genuinely confused. He thought of a smart remark, but kept it to himself. He sensed Dally's tension and thought it best not to push things tonight.

"Johnny?" Dally called making his way to the couch.

Johnny let out a soft whimper and looked at Dally with huge, scared eyes.

"It's all right," Dally took him by the shoulders. "It's just Two-bit, see?"

Johnny was still groggy, and he moved closer to Dally and looked over at Two-bit.

Dallas sat there, letting Johnny lean on him. He talked quietly to him, trying to either calm him back to sleep, or wake him up enough so that he could process what was going on.

Two-bit's usually jovial expression turned serious. "What's wrong with Johnny?" 

He started to walk over to the couch, but Johnny was still regarding him with a hesitant gaze.

Two-bit stopped and looked at Dally, who by now was glaring at him for waking Johnny in the first place. 

Two-bit just looked confused and concerned. Dally turned his attention to Johnny. "It's all right, Johnnycake. It's Two-bit. It's all right..."

Johnny finally let out his breath. He was waking up a little. "Hey Two-bit..." he whispered.

Two-bit took that as an invitation to come a few steps closer, and then actually come over and sit on the couch. "Johnnycake? What's the matter, buddy?" he touched the side of Johnny's face and looked questioningly at Dally.

Dally's expression softened a bit. "He's just been having some bad dreams, he's all right." Johnny's eyelids drooped as he slowly relaxed and sank into Dally's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, kid. I didn't mean to scare you. You go back to sleep." Two-bit said.

Johnny was already drifting off. He let out a soft sigh, trying to reply to Two-bit, but he was too tired to form words.

"Glory, Two-bit!" Dally whispered, looking at Two-bit's wet jacket and hair. "You're dripping all over the place! Get off the couch, you're gonna get Johnny soaked!"

Dally leaned Johnny carefully back against the pillow and got up. "I'll be right back, Johnnycake. And don't go back to sleep yet, I want to talk to you..." 

By this time, Johnny was too out of it to hear him. 

Dally grabbed Two-bit's collar and pulled him towards the kitchen. Along the way, he picked up the towel he'd been using and threw it at Two-bit.

"Dry off," he said and hopped up on the counter and lit a cigarette. He proceeded to explain the evenings events to Two-bit, who just stared at him, for once at a loss for words. 

"If whoever it was shows up again, he's gonna get a good ass kicking." Dally said angrily.

"Do you think he'll show up again tonight?" Two-bit was ready for some action.

Dally's shoulders slumped. "I don't know. I doubt it. I kind of wish he would so I could kill him. And Johnny's got this nasty cut on him that looks like it was patched up by monkeys- Geez, I gotta go take care of that."

Dally slid off the counter and put his cigarette out in the sink.

"What's it from?" Two-bit asked, his laughing gray eyes filling with concern.

"Huh?"

"The cut- who cut him?"

"I don't know, his old man, I'm guessin'. He didn't tell me about it, I just happened to see it. It's a real mess. That's another one I'd like to get my hands on...." Dally looked murderous at the thought of Johnny's father.

The two boys headed back into the livingroom.

Johnny was out cold.

"Well, I'm crashing here tonight." Two-bit said, heading for "Dally's" chair.

Dally gave him a look.

"I meant 'here' as in 'here on the floor'!!" Two-bit turned on his heel away from the chair. "Did I forget to say that part?"

Dally just rolled his eyes.

"Take the couch, Two-bit, I'm gonna put the kid in Soda's room. People could be showing up here all night and he needs to get some sleep." Dally said as he walked over and carefully lifted Johnny off the couch.

Johnny yawned sleepily, his head flopping onto Dally's shoulder. 

Don't get too comfortable, Dally thought. You're not off the hook yet.

He nudged open the door to Soda's room and put Johnny on the bed.

"Dally?" Johnny mumbled.

"Yeah, buddy?"

"Did you lock the door?"

"No, I didn't. I'll lock it right now. I'll be right back." Dally walked out to the livingroom. Two-bit was sprawled out on the couch, fast asleep already. He took another look out at the empty porch and turned the lock, then he headed back to Soda's room.

Johnny was sitting up against the pillows looking slightly confused.

"How did I end up in here?" he asked.

Dally shook his head. "You were asleep. I carried you in so you aren't waking up every five minutes when every bum in Tulsa decides to camp out for the night in the Curtis livingroom," he said, sitting down in a chair beside the bed.

Dally leaned forward, his elbows on his knees considering how (or even whether) to bring up the subject of the gash on Johnny's side.

Johnny sensed Dally had something on his mind and he grew visibly uncomfortable.

"You wanna tell me what happened?" Dally asked looking at Johnny who looked like he wanted to hide under the covers.

There was a slight pause, Johnny was trying not to look like he was hiding something, but he wasn't doing a very good job. "Huh?"

Dally regarded him calmly. "The cut. Who did that to you?"

Johnny looked down and stared at the blankets.

Dally's eyes narrowed. He lifted Johnny's chin. "Who?" he demanded.

Dally immediately softened his expression when he caught sight of Johnny's face. He looked like a cornered animal. He was shaking and trying hard not to look directly into Dally's eyes. Dally sighed and dropped his hand to Johnny's shoulder. Johnny returned his gaze to the blankets.

"All right, look, if you don't want to talk about it, will you at least let me clean it up and put a new bandage on it? For crying out loud, Johnny! It looks like a drunken doctor put that bandage on! You're a mess!" Dally got up and stormed off to the medicine cabinet.

Johnny's eyes followed him. Dally wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer about fixing up his cut, but it looked like he might not push him anymore about who did it. Johnny was glad of that at least. And as for the cut, well, even he had to admit he'd done a pretty sloppy job of patching himself up. It just wouldn't stop bleeding and he'd had to get it covered quickly before the gang noticed it. Not to mention he couldn't really reach it that well.

Dally came back into the room carrying all kinds of things which he proceeded to lay out on the bedspread as though he were about to perform surgery. Johnny almost laughed, but he didn't dare.

"Now lie down," Dally instructed, and he removed Johnny's attempt at a bandage and held a wet towel over the cut. 

Johnny forced himself not to cringe.

Dally had the cut cleaned, medicated and rebandaged in about ten minutes.

"Thanks," Johnny said quietly.

"Yeah, you just try to stay out of trouble from now on, ok Johnnycake?" 

Johnny heard what almost sounded like just a hint of sadness in Dally's otherwise nonchalant voice.

"You try to get some sleep now, kid. I'll be out in the chair." Dally said picking up all the first aid things.

Johnny lay there thinking for a minute or two after Dally left. He thought about the secret he was keeping and wondered how wise it was not to tell anyone. He didn't know what to do. But he was certainly going to try not to be alone as much as before and he needed to try to discourage Pony from going to track practice for a little while. That was going to be tough. 

But the guy said he was leaving, Johnny thought. Maybe if I can just get him to skip a couple practices.....

Stay out of trouble. Boy howdy, don't I wish. Johnny thought as he fell asleep.

Dally stared out the window from his spot in the Curtis's livingroom chair. Something wasn't right. He wished Johnny would talk to him, trust him... 

But why should he, Dally thought ruefully. I sure don't make it easy, I suppose.

He hated to admit it, but he was starting to really worry about the kid. More so than usual. And part of him was wondering if he should have pushed Johnny for more information. What if it _wasn't_ his father that had hurt him? 

No, Dally thought. Johnny and everyone else in the gang always said something if they'd had a run in with socs or even with other greasers... it was stuff with his parents that Johnny really clammed up about.

But something wasn't right. Dally didn't sleep well that night. At about three in the morning, to settle his own nerves, he finally got up and looked in on Johnny who didn't appear to have had the most peaceful sleep either. He had kicked all the blankets onto the floor and would murmur something every now and then.

Dally sneaked quietly into the room and pulled the blankets back up onto the bed. Before he covered Johnny he took a look at the new bandage which seemed to be doing a much better job than the old one. 

"I hope you didn't have any big dreams of becoming a doctor, Johnnycake," Dally whispered as he pushed Johnny's hair back off his closed eyes.

He pulled the blankets up over Johnny's shoulders and headed back to the other room.

A few hours later, when the first rays of sun peeked through the window at dawn, Dally finally dosed off in the chair. 


	9. Chapter 8

All right! I'm back, I had a great time and I'm ready to finish up this story! I think we have a few more chapters to go, though. Hope you can all hang in there and keep on reading! I am SO addicted to your reviews! By the way, the next person to review will be my 100th one!!! I am a little unsure of where I left off in terms of replying to the reviewers, so forgive me if I miss your name, and thank you for reading!

**wisk8r-** 2 weeks are up! Hope you're still reading! I'm glad you're able to visualize what's going on. That's nice to hear!

**Kimmerkay-** Did your puppy keep the nightmares away? I didn't like Dally either till the end of the book and then I realized that he had a heart after all. It's now the inspiration for much of my writing! By the time I actually post this, maybe you'll be back from your vacation! Hope you have a great time! 

**Crimson-** I'm so flattered that you like my story! I will keep the updates coming!

**Jade** **Cade-** Thanks for the review!

**True Slytherin Gurl**- Thank you!! Enjoy the next chapter!

**darkdestiny2000-** Thank you so much for the nice review! I will keep going.

**Two-BitGortez-** Thanks! I will post more soon! 

**Xperpxhaterx-** Yea! I love it when people tell me the story freaks them out! I will work on including Two-bit more for you:)

**Pony's girl**- Thanks! More chapters on their way...

**CiCi-** Suggestion noted and appreciated. I will work on that summary. Maybe I will get more readers! Glad you like the story, and if you have any specific suggestions for the summary, I'm open to ideas! What would have caught your attention? Let me know!

**Opal-** AAAHH!! We don't want anyone peeing their pants! Maybe I'd better tone it down! :) Thanks for reviewing.

**Ursula-** Thanks so much for the review!

**ScottyBaby-** You flatter me!! Thanks for the nice review! I enjoy your writing too!

**Ponyboysgirl-** Thanks for the great review! Glad you like the story.

**shyxshortiexbabe-** Thanks! Hope you enjoy the rest of the story!

**Spikes-luvr-4ever-** Thank you- I will keep the updates coming!!

**Gold-** I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Thanks so much for reviewing!

**Litzy bitzy**- Thanks! I had so much fun writing that part. Dally tries to seem like a grouch, but we all see right through him! :)

**jkb-** Thanks for all your positive feedback and encouragement! I love to hear that people are actually a little freaked out by my story!

**MissLKidd-** Thank you! You are such a faithful reviewer!

**Kurupt emotions-** Sorry! I hated stopping, but I had no choice! Thanks so much for your wonderful reviews. I am glad you're getting so into the story!!

**DallysGirl4Life-** Thanks!! Glad you like the story.

**Deadly-** Good call on who was at the door!! Thanks for the reviews.

**DreaminboutDal-** Thank you for the nice review and for your question! How did I come up with the idea? Actually, I had a very short "angsty" piece about Johnny having nightmares which shows up in (I think) chapter 5. It was only a few paragraphs. I liked it, but I didn't feel like it had enough substance to post it. I thought maybe if I built a story around that, maybe I could post it then. So I asked myself, 'WHY is he having nightmares?' and I came up with the killer/stalker idea. I also figured out an ending before getting too involved, and now I'm just filling in the details in the middle piece by piece and changing course as I go along. It would probably be a lot smarter to write the whole thing out BEFORE posting anything, but I couldn't wait! I'm so addicted to the reviews it's not even funny! Anyhow, my only concern is that I'll get to the end and the pieces won't fit together right. But so far so good! Thanks again!

Ok, once again, sorry if I missed anyone!

*************************************************************************

Johnny couldn't believe it, but he'd had actually gotten Pony to skip track a couple times and sneak off to the movies. The first time he did it, it wasn't too hard. The second time it was a little more difficult, and originally, Johnny hadn't intended to do it again. He figured by that time, the guy had to be gone, but one day in study hall had changed all that. Johnny usually skipped study hall and went home or waited outside for Pony. It was his last class and there were a few socs in there that never made things very pleasant. But now, he actually felt safer in school. And he was starting to fall behind in history, so he figured he might as well start using the study time.

Two of the socs in the class were part of the group that had been on TV for catching the killer. For a couple days after that happened, they completely left Johnny and the other greasers alone. They were too busy gloating over their own heroism to their friends. Johnny almost laughed at the idea. If they only knew, he thought. but after a short time, they were back to their old tricks, trying to get Johnny and a few other boys in trouble, kicking their chairs or throwing things at them. They seemed particularly interested in trying to get to Johnny because he tried not to ever give them a reaction. The other greasers in the class would yell or swear at them and get themselves into a heap of trouble. Johnny hadn't really decided which was worse yet, so for now he just kept quiet and let them torment him. Once in a while, if he was lucky, they'd actually get _themselves_ in trouble.

But then one day they didn't bother him at all. They didn't even look up when he came into the room. They were talking intently to eachother about something. Johnny was too relieved to care what it was about. The bell had not rung yet so the teacher wasn't stopping their conversation.

"I saw him in the woods!"

"When?"

"During track practice... he was watching from behind a tree, way off in the-"

"Ricky, you're nuts. It's probably just some greaser wishin' he had a life."

"I don't know. It just gave me the creeps..."

Johnny's stomach turned. There was no question in his mind what they were talking about. He was still there. And there was track practice after school. With any luck, maybe the guy would go after one of the socs. But he couldn't take that chance.

After class he begged Pony to go to the new Paul Newman movie that had just come out. Johnny had no interest in the movie, but he knew Pony was a big Paul Newman fan and figured he wouldn't really have to twist his arm too much. And he didn't. Pony was excited to have someone to go with, and the weather had been extremely hot the past few days so he had little interest in running.

"But this'll have to be the last time I miss practice," Pony said. "Coach will kill me."

So off they went to the movies after school. 

And then things were pretty quiet. Several days went by and things seemed normal. Now, if I could just get some sleep, Johnny thought. Not since the night Johnny saw the man in the ski mask staring at him from the Curtis's porch had Johnny slept comfortably through the night. And he didn't know when or if the nightmares would ever stop.

He was so exhausted and so run down he was starting to feel sick. And Dally.... Dally had been up right along with him, probably getting as little or even less sleep than Johnny was. Johnny couldn't figure that out. He assumed after the first night of this nonsense Dally would've been out the door. He didn't wake up screaming from his nightmares or anything, like Ponyboy did, except for that first time. But he was pretty sure that hadn't been a dream. He never made a sound, or at least he never remembered making a sound, but he'd sit up, take a few deep breaths to calm himself down, and before he knew it, Dally would be sitting on the edge of the couch asking him if he was ok. 

Johnny finally told Dally that he should go back to staying at Buck's- he'd get more sleep, and that he was fine. He was surprised, but relieved when Dally completely ignored the suggestion. One time he awoke in the night and he saw Dally get up and go out to the kitchen. He came back with two beers and handed one to Johnny. Johnny didn't tell him that he hated beer, he just took a drink and kept his mouth shut. He was ready to try anything to get some sleep. Dally ruffled Johnny's hair then sat down on the floor and leaned his head up against the arm of the couch.

"What's bugging you, kid?" Dally said, not really expecting a response. He turned his head sideways and looked up at Johnny. "Don't worry, Johnnycake. You're gonna be all right."

Dally had sensed his thoughts. 

But when? How long is this going to go on? Johnny wondered.

Dally was getting very good at reading Johnny's expressions. He propped himself up a little straighter so he was eye level with Johnny. He studied him for a minute. He looked tired, scared and frustrated. "C'mon," Dally said giving Johnny's shoulder a gentle nudge. "Trust me."

Johnny looked at him tiredly.

Dally sighed and sat back against the arm of the couch again.

"I used to wake up in the middle of the night. Let me tell you, kid- just be glad you're waking up in the Curtis livingroom and not in some New York alley."

Johnny's eyes widened at the thought. And at the fact that Dally was sharing something from his past. He never talked about his past unless it was to brag about his record with the police.

"Yeah, Charlie would give me one of these- if he had one," he said indicating the beer. "It'd put me right out. 'Course I was about nine at the time, so it didn't take much."

Charlie was one thing Johnny did know about Dally's past. He'd been part of the gang Dally was in when he lived in New York. Charlie was about four years older than Dally and they'd been like brothers. Charlie was shot in a gang fight trying to protect Dally. But that was all Johnny knew. Dally never got very close to anyone again after that. Johnny could understand why.

"What if he didn't have one?" Johnny whispered.

"Hmm? Oh, the beer? Well," Dally thought a minute. "Then he'd just stay up and talk to me about stuff till I fell asleep."

"Just like you do," Johnny mumbled, as he began to drift back to sleep.

Dally stared straight ahead at nothing in particular and nodded. Then he looked over at Johnny, whose eyes were finally closed and smiled a little. "Yeah, but tonight I'm giving up and trying the beer."

Dally went on telling Johnny stories about his days in New York.

Johnny was nearly asleep, but he could tell Dally was really tired. Some of his stories didn't really have a point and he would drift off in the middle of sentences. It was almost funny, but it was so relieving to hear a familiar voice when you were scared that Johnny didn't care.

In the morning, Darry yelled for Ponyboy to get up. He came out into the living room to find Johnny asleep on the couch with a beer bottle in his hand and Dally asleep sitting up on the floor with his head on Johnny's pillow, also with a beer bottle in his hand. He shook his head. Whatever was bothering Johnny was pretty bad, he decide. This is getting out of control, he thought. 

He walked over to Dally and shook him awake. "C'mon Dal, why don't you go lie down in my room for a little while."

"Huh?" Dally mumbled grogily. "What time is it?"

"Six-thirty... Ponyboy! If I don't hear that shower running in ten seconds-"

"All right!" Pony yelled from the other room.

Dally cringed. He almost felt like he had a hangover, but he knew it was just lack of sleep. His head was throbbing. He looked over at Johnny who was sleeping through everything.

"C'mon," Darry helped him up.

Dally stood shakily. "I'm gonna head over to Buck's, I think."

Dally had been meaning to get there for a while. He needed a change of clothes and a shower and besides, Buck owed him money from a poker game from over a week ago. Dally figured if he didn't get it soon, he might as well just kiss it goodbye. The Curtis house was way too crazy in the morning for him to go back to sleep anyway.

"All right," Darry looked at him with some concern. "Get some sleep while you're over there."

"Yeah, all right." Dally said as he headed out the door.

Darry leaned over Johnny. "Hey, buddy... Time for school. You gonna go today or what?" Darry pushed back Johnny's hair and felt heat radiating from his forehead.

Johnny groaned and opened his eyes. "Hey, Darry."

"Hey," Darry said sitting down on the couch and feeling Johnny's head and cheeks. "You ok, kid? You feel kinda hot..."

"I don't know..."

"You want some breakfast?"

Johnny closed his eyes and tried not to think about food. "No, I... I don't feel to great. I think I'm not going to go to school today."

"I think staying home would be a good idea." 

"Yeah, I think I'll head over there in a few minutes."

"I mean stay here, Johnnycake. You don't need to get up and walk all the way home!"

Johnny was too tired to argue with him and he certainly didn't want to have to explain to Darry that he was nervous about staying there alone. He couldn't believe it had actually come to a point where he would rather be in a house with one of his drunken parents than alone at the Curtis's.

"Where's Dally?" Johnny asked looking around and noticing that he was gone.

"He went over to Buck's for a little while. He'll be back. And I'll come home at lunch to see how you're doing."

Johnny closed his eyes. 

He heard Pony walk down the hall from the shower and shout "SODA!! Your turn!"

Then he must have whipped Soda with a wet towel or something, because Johnny heard a snap, a yelp and the beginning of a wrestling match, which Darry promptly put a stop to.

Johnny drifted in and out, and eventually, he heard Darry say, "Put these over near Johnny, would you? I'll start the truck. Pony! Let's go!"

Soda came over to him and set a glass of orange juice and a couple asprins on the end table near Johnny's head. He got down beside him and stroked Johnny's hair.

"Hey, Johnnycake.... I hope you feel better kid. Darry says he'll be back in a while to see how you're doing. You can call me at the DX if you need anything. I can run home. OK?"

Johnny nodded. "Thanks, Soda."

"No sweat kid. Get some rest. I gotta go!" And with that, he hopped up and bounded out the front door, full of energy as usual. Johnny almost envied him.

And as the door slammed shut behind Soda, Johnny's stomach began to feel funny. But he knew it wasn't because he was sick. It was because he was alone in the house.


	10. Chapter 9

Johnny slept for a few hours and woke up when the phone rang. His stomach lurched a little remembering the last time he picked up the phone when he was alone in the Curtis's house. But if it was one of the guys and he didn't pick it up, they'd wonder if he was OK. So he sat up carefully and dragged himself over to the phone. He was feeling pretty rotten.

"Hello?"

"Hey bud, how ya doin'?" 

Johnny breathed a sigh. It was Steve. "I'm OK, Steve."

"Soda told me you weren't feeling to great. He's busy with a customer and he wanted me to call and see how you were... It's a _blonde_ customer, by the way." Johnny could almost see Steve smirking on the other end of the line.

"Ooohh." Johnny said, making a half hearted attempt to play along.

"Good ol' Soda, always the ladies man... Anyhow, kid, he says he's gonna try to stop by in a bit. OK?"

"He doesn't have to," Johnny wished he hadn't said that. He really wanted someone to come home soon.

"He knows, but he's coming anyway. Gotta go, kid! Feel better!"

"Thanks, Steve," Johnny said and hung up the phone. 

Johnny headed off to the shower, hoping that would make him feel a little better. 

When he came out, he heard whistling from the front yard. Soda was home.

"Hey, Johnnycake!! You're up and about! Doing better?" Soda grabbed him in a choke hold and ruffled his wet hair.

"I _was_," Johnny replied, which was not entirely true. The shower had helped a little, but not much.

Soda laughed and plopped down on the couch.

Johnny sat down too.

Soda looked at him, his face suddenly serious. "Johnny, how come you're not sleeping?"

Johnny looked down. "I don't know..."

Soda moved over next to him and slung and arm over his shoulders. "C'mon kid, it's _me_, Sodapop! You can talk to me.... what's eatin' you?"

Johnny looked into his eyes. Aside from Pony, Soda was probably the easiest one to talk to of the gang. But this situation....

_I will kill your friend Ponyboy....._

No! Johnny thought to himself. You are not going to tell anyone. He's going to leave, he's probably already gone. You are not going to risk Ponyboy's life.

He'd seen the news. He knew the score. This guy was very dangerous.

"I've just been having nightmares.... I don't know."

"But-" Soda stopped when he heard the screen door open. Darry had come home over lunch as promised.

"Hey, you two. Johnny? How are ya?"

"All right," Johnny replied.

Darry went into the kitchen and got a quick glass of milk and let Soda and Johnny talk for another minute. He'd decided that he'd send Soda back to work and confront Johnny about his recent behavior. He'd gotten a call at work from Pony's track coach about a couple of missed practices. Darry hadn't had a chance to talk to Ponyboy yet, but he could only assume that Johnny knew something about it. 

Darry went back into the livingroom. From what he could tell, Soda was trying to get him to talk too. "All right, little buddy. Back to work with you."

"Aw, Darry, I just got here!"

Darry gave him "the look".

Soda rolled his eyes. "All right. You get some rest, Johnnycake. I'll see you tonight!"

Johnny waved to Soda as he bounded out the door.

Darry went over to the couch. He sat down on the edge and looked at Johnny. "No sign of Dally yet, huh?"

Johnny shook his head. He was getting nervous. He had a sneaking suspicion that Darry was going to press him for information too.

"Johnny, I gotta ask you... Things haven't been ...quite right lately. You haven't been getting any sleep, you haven't been eating, and Dally told me about the cut. "

Darry tried to keep his tone soft. He knew he was making Johnny nervous even though he didn't mean to.

"And I got a call about Ponyboy's track practices..." he didn't accuse. He didn't need to. He knew he's be able to read Johnny's expression.

And Johnny looked absolutely devastated.

"Johnny, if he misses too many of those, he'll be off the team! What's going on? You need to talk to somebody, kid. You're really scaring us... Dally hasn't slept since this all started. He's so worried about you...."

Johnny looked at him curiously. That seemed like a strange thing to say. Dally didn't worry. Dally wasn't even there, which Johnny was glad for. He hoped he was off getting some sleep. Johnny had been feeling guilty for waking him up every night.

"Something's wrong, I can see it in your face- I know that look. It's the look you had on your face the first time I saw you and you didn't want to tell anybody what had happened to you..." 

Johnny drew in a quick breath. 

But there was no mistaking it. That's what Darry had seen in Johnny's face then. Not just fear, not just pain, but a secret. Something he didn't want to tell anyone. That had been so long ago. Eleven years ago. Johnny had been five years old. Darry had just turned ten......

*************************

Mrs. Curtis had been looking out the window for the past five minutes. She never just stood looking out the window. She didn't have time. As it was right now, there were dishes to be done, laundry to be folded, and Soda was asking her a third time for some chocolate cake and he was starting to whine. It was the expression on her face that had caught Darry's attention. She looked worried and a little sad.

Finally, she looked away, as if coming out of a daze, and she turned to Soda. "All right, Sodapop. Go sit down at the table and I'll bring you some."

She glanced out the window one last time and walked over to the cupboards and got out a plate and a fork. "Darry," she called, trying to be heard over Soda who had made up a song about how much he liked chocolate cake.

Darry got up from the floor where he'd been where he'd been working on building a model airplane. "Yeah, Mom?"

"Darry, would you do something for me?" she asked glancing towards the window and absently placing a piece of cake in front of Soda, who immediately stopped singing and started eating.

"Sure, what?"

She started walking towards the window again. "There's a little boy out there in the lot. He doesn't look like he's much older than Sodapop. I think he's crying...."

Darry went over to the window too, to see what she was looking at and, sure enough, there at the edge of the vacant lot was a small, dark haired boy sitting in the grass, hugging his knees to his chest.

"I saw him out there another time too... Darry, honey, would you go and see if ..... well, maybe he'd like to come in here for some cake? Could you do that? And come right back. "

Darry shrugged. "Sure, Mom. I'll go get him." 

Darry headed down the porch and across the street to the empty field. As he got closer, the boy looked up. 

He had cuts and bruises on his face and arms and he was crying, just like his mom had thought.

Darry was afraid for a minute that the kid would run off, he looked really scared. He had huge black eyes, almost as dark as his hair. He was small, and he did look to be about Soda's age. 

"Hey, " Darry said, stopping a short distance from the boy and waving a little. He approached him like he might a wild animal. He figured if he moved slow enough and didn't get too close, the kid might not run off.

The little boy didn't say anything. He was still choking on tears, but he tried to stop once he saw Darry. In his hands he was clutching a small, tattered stuffed dog.

"Are you ok?" Darry asked softly.

There was no response.

"My name's Darrel, but everybody calls me Darry. What's your name?"

There was a long pause and finally, the boy whispered "Johnny."

"Oh. I live over there," Darry said pointing back to his house. "My mom said to tell you that we have chocolate cake and that you can have some if you want."

The boy now looked more confused than scared. 

Darry wasn't sure what else to say. "I'm building a model airplane. I could show it to you and you could have some cake. What do you say?"

Johnny looked at him for a minute. "Will I like chocolate cake?"

Darry stared at him. What kind of question was that? _"Everybody_ likes chocolate cake," he said finally. "C'mon."

Darry held out his hand. Johnny hesitated, then finally he stood up and took Darry's hand.

He was limping slightly.

"How old are you?" Darry asked.

"Five."

"Aren't you a little young to be getting in fights?"

Johnny didn't say anything.

Darry eyed him curiously. He had a look on his face like he'd done something bad and didn't want to say. 

He probably gets in trouble for fighting, Darry thought. He knew that he and his brothers did. But somewhere in the back of his ten year old mind, something was telling him there was more to all this that he thought.

But Johnny was not a talker so Darry just held his hand and walked him up the front porch steps.

Mrs. Curtis held open the door. "Well, hello!" 

She smiled warmly, but Darry didn't miss the fleeting look of shock on her face. She got down at eye level with Johnny, not that he would look at her.

"We thought you might like to join us for some cake! What's your name?"

"His name's Johnny, Mom." Darry answered for him, sparing the boy the apparent difficulty of talking to strangers. He could feel the small hand trembling in his.

Johnny stood there looking at his worn out shoes and holding the stuffed dog up close to his chin.

"Oh! Well that's a nice name! I'm Mrs. Curtis. Johnny, how old are you? Four?"

Johnny looked up then. "No, I'm five."

Mrs. Curtis smiled even more. "Well, then you'll have to come in and meet my son Sodapop. He's five too! You two will be going to school together in the fall."

Johnny looked curiously at her. "Sodapop?" he asked, tilting his head to one side.

Mrs. Curtis laughed. "Yes! That's his name. Can you believe it? His Daddy picked it out. Now who is this?" she asked, patting the stuffed dog in Johnny's hand.

Johnny took a deep breath like he was about to make a speech. "That's Snoopy, only it's not the real Snoopy because Mama says she can't 'ford to buy me the real Snoopy- he's too 'spensive. I found this one outside in the dirt."

That dog's not even white, Darry thought. But he figured he wouldn't mention that to Johnny.

"Oh, I see." Mrs. Curtis was giving Johnny her full attention as though he were telling her the most important thing in the world. Darry always admired how she did that. He knew she'd be able to get Johnny to talk.

"Well, would you and Snoopy like to come in? I'll bet you're hungry."

Johnny nodded, almost eagerly.

Darry had noticed how skinny the boy was and he figured he probably _was_ hungry. Johnny was still holding onto Darry's hand as they followed Mrs. Curtis inside. Darry wondered why his mom hadn't said anything about the cuts and bruises.

Soda was still working on his cake and he'd made a complete mess. 

Darry took Johnny over to the table and showed him where to sit. Then he sat down across from him.

"Hi!" Soda said loudly. "What's your name?"

"Johnny."

"Johnny what?" Soda was banging his fork on his glass of milk.

"Johnny Cade." Johnny replied softly.

Soda stopped banging his fork and looked at Johnny. "Johnny _Cake_? Your last name is Cake? That's the best name in the world!" Soda yelled, before Johnny could even correct him. Then he started banging his fork again and making up a song about a boy named Johnny Cake.

Johnny wasn't sure what to make of all this. If it had been anyone else, it might have seemed like they were making fun of him, but not Soda. Soda seemed genuinely thrilled with the name he'd just misheard.

"Sodapop... Soda, stop." Mrs. Curtis took his hand that had the fork and held it long enough to talk to him. "He said his last name is _Cade_. Not Cake."

Soda put the fork back in the cake and took another bite and looked over at Johnny. "Oh. Well, you could just tell people that your last name is Cake. It sounds almost the same." 

"You can call me that if you want." Johnny said quietly.

"OK!" Soda beamed. Then his expression changed. He looked suddenly concerned. "Hey, What happened to yo-"

Mrs. Curtis put a cloth napkin up to Soda's mouth and began to wipe his face. "You're a mess! Would you like more milk?"

"OK!" Soda said. "I think Johnny Cake would like some too."

"All right," she laughed and set out another glass and a plate of cake for Johnny.

As Johnny was reaching for his fork, he accidentally bumped the glass that Mrs. Curtis was pouring milk into so that she ended up pouring some on the table.

Johnny gasped. "I'm sorry!" he said softly looking up at Mrs. Curtis, his eyes filling with tears, and the most terrified look on his face that she had ever seen on a child of his age.

Mrs. Curtis was startled by his reaction. "It's all right, sweetie, it was an accident! Don't cry!" She got down beside him and dried his face with the towel she'd had on her apron.

Darry saw his mother's extreme concern over Johnny's reaction and he wondered about it vaguely. And Johnny... Johnny was shaking and cowering in his chair. Darry had never seen anyone behave like that.

But then Mrs. Curtis smiled brightly and picked up the glass of milk and to Johnny's amazement, dumped a little more on the table. Johnny just stared at her.

"Things like that happen a lot in this house," she said. "It's OK!"

Soda grinned and picked up what was left of his milk. "Yeah, see, Johnny Cake? Mom doesn't get mad!"

And with that he poured his milk over his cake and laughed like it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen in his life.

Mrs. Curtis cringed. What have I started, she thought. She would talk with Soda later.

Right about then a very small boy wearing nothing but a pair of underpants came toddling down the hall carrying a blue blanket and a stuffed bear.

"Oh, hello, Ponyboy!" Mrs. Curtis walked over and picked him up. "Did you have a good nap?" 

Ponyboy... Sodapop... people dumping milk on the kitchen table and laughing about it...what kind of place was this? Johnny wondered to himself. And he hadn't been there 5 minutes before he, too, had acquired a nickname. But he said nothing.

"Ponyboy, this is our new friend Johnny. Can you say hello?"

Ponyboy just looked at Johnny and then buried his face in his mother's shoulder.

"His name is Johnny _Cake_, Ponyboy! Isn't that a swell name?" Soda announced.

Ponyboy lifted his head and laughed. Johnny couldn't help but laugh too.

After he finished his cake, Darry, Sodapop, Ponyboy and Mrs. Curtis walked him home.

"Now, Johnny, anytime you want to come over, our door is always open. You stop by any time, OK?" Mrs. Curtis said.

She had such a warm smile, such a sincere way about her. Johnny would certainly take her up on the offer. He wished he never had to leave. The whole way back to his house he wanted to cry. He didn't want to go home. He didn't want these people to know where he lived. Or worse, who he lived with.....

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"Mom cried for half an hour after we took you back," Darry said. "She knew what you were hiding. Unfortunately, I'm not as perceptive as Mom was. I know you're not telling us something, but I don't know what it is...."

Johnny wouldn't meet his gaze, but something inside him warmed when he remembered that day. It was the first day in his life that he remembered feeling safe, feeling like someone cared if he lived or died.

"We just want to help you, kiddo. But you need to tell us how. We all care about you.... Look, I gotta get back to work or I'll be in big trouble. Dally should be here any minute.You get some sleep and think about what I said, all right?"

Johnny nodded. Right then and there, he almost told Darry.

But this isn't about _me_, he reminded himself. They don't know what might happen if I told them... He couldn't even imagine what would happen if the Curtises lost Ponyboy.

Darry patted his shoulder and headed outside. He hoped Dally would be there soon.


	11. Chapter 10

Sorry about the wait, I had a bit of writer's block on this chapter and I was working on some later chapters.... we're getting close to the end!

Thank you to all you wonderful reviewers who have stuck with this story for so long!!!! And to all the new readers!! I love reading your thoughts on the story.

**MissLKid-** Thank you so much for the review!

**Deadly-** I thought the same thing... for _14 years_. I'm not kidding. Then I took one of those internet polls and it was asking all these questions about the Outsiders which I thought I'd ace- But I got one wrong. I always thought Soda was 17, but it actually says he's "16 going on 17". I had to look it up. I didn't believe the poll. I suppose it means he's closer to 17 than Johnny, but who knows? Anyhow, I LOVE reading your reviews. You're always paying attention to details! Thanks!!

**Kimmerkay-** Wasn't Soda naughty!! He doesn't mean to be :) Thanks for your thoughts on the flashback. I may throw in another one just because you asked (if I can make it work for the story)!! I had actually thought about it, but I haven't decided what to do about it yet. Thanks for reading!

**Aaliyah-Charity-** Thanks so much!! Glad you liked it.

**wisk8r-** Sorry about the long wait! I'll let you in on a little secret- Chapter 11 is about ready to go! I may want to add another flashback, but other than that, it should be up soon! I'm really glad you're enjoying the story!

**Johnnycake-** Sorry your sister ruined everything for you! Lock your door and enjoy Chapter 10!!

**Imhoteps** **Lover-** I had a blast reading the multitude of reviews you sent me! Thanks for all the positive feedback.

**jkb-** Thank you! I came up with that chapter while I was on vacation. Johnny's home life is such a sad story and must've been even more so when he was younger. The fact that he's so darn cute makes it that much worse!

**gryphongirl-** I was really encouraged by your thoughtful review. I'm glad you liked that chapter- so far, that one was the most fun to write!

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It seemed to be getting hotter by the minute. Johnny couldn't tell if it was his fever or the weather, but it was very uncomfortable. The sky was a strange color, hopefully a signal that a cooling storm would blow through soon. And hopefully, Johnny thought, there will be someone home by then.

Darry had just left, he heard the Ford pulling out of the driveway.

It was about the time that, had he been at school, Johnny would have his study hall, so he figured maybe he should do some reading in his history book. He pulled it out from a pile of books and set it on the table by the couch. Then he headed into the kitchen to get something to drink. He was feeling awful, but he just didn't feel like sleeping. 

He got a glass out of the cupboard.

The phone rang.

Johnny just looked at it for a second. Then he reached over and picked it up.

"Hello?" he said hesitantly.

There was no response. Johnny closed his eyes and willed himself not to get sick right there in the kitchen.

He was about to hang up when the person on the other end of the line finally spoke.

"Nice work so far... Still keeping your mouth shut?" 

Johnny didn't say anything.

"You'd better be. That friend of yours is looking better and better all the time. He's a prime target, that one. Good thing you've been keeping him outta my woods!"

Johnny was shaking and could barely hold the phone. He thought about just hanging up, but he couldn't move.

"Whattsa matter, greaser, somebody cut out your tongue?" the man on the other end laughed dangerously. "I think that's what I'll start with on your friend if I find out you been squealin' to anyone-"

Johnny's mobility returned suddenly with a rush of adrenaline and he slammed the phone down, his hands shaking. The phone fell off the receiver, but Johnny was already backing away from it. He dropped the glass that he was holding and it shattered. Johnny backed up to the cupboards and sank to the floor, a piece of glass tore through his skin, but he hardly noticed. 

Ponyboy, he thought. Was there track practice today? No, not today. He was safe for today, but when? When was the next one? He couldn't think. Pain shot up through his arm from the cut on his hand but he completely ignored it. And he began to wonder... is he watching me again? Am I really alone in the house? 

He tried to catch his breath. But then he heard something.

Footsteps were coming up the front porch. 

He heard the front door open. 

His whole body went cold and he reached into his back pocket for his switchblade.

Blood was streaming from the cut in his hand.

Footsteps fell on the livingroom floor.

Someone was coming towards the kitchen.

Johnny steadied himself, his blade ready.

Dally awoke with a start. He'd only intended to lie down for a minute, but he'd fallen asleep. He looked at the clock on the dresser of his room in Buck's tavern. It was past one in the afternoon. He got up shakily, a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, a nervousness that he was not used to. 

This thing, whatever it is, going on with Johnny has to stop, he thought.

It was driving him crazy. Dally decided right then and there that he would just be a bit more persistent with the kid today. He would figure out what was going on and put a stop to it. He was Dallas Winston, after all. He always got what he wanted.

He took a quick shower, dressed, harassed Buck for the money he owed him, and headed over to the Curtis house. School would be getting out soon.

Dally wiped the sweat off his forehead as he walked. The weather was getting hotter by the second and there was a heaviness in the air. He thought about how he would confront Johnny about the situation. If it were anyone else, it would be easy. And it would probably end in a fist fight. But nobody was forceful with Johnny. You just couldn't be. He was everybody's little brother and you just couldn't be mean to him. Not even Dally. He laughed a little at the idea. That kid had everybody wrapped around his little finger and he didn't even know it. But, that was not going to stop Dally today. He was determined to find out what was bothering Johnny.

Ordinarily, Dally would have just let it go. When Johnny had problems at home, he rarely discussed it with the gang, and no one pushed him about it. There was no reason to. But this was different. It had come to a point where whatever was bothering him was affecting his health, or at least it would be eventually if he didn't eat a decent meal and get some rest. And it hadn't sat well with Dally since that first night that Johnny had woken up screaming. Dally had been concerned for Johnny before, but this was making him down right _nervous_. Something he was not used to at all. 

He was approaching the lot. As he passed the phone booth on the corner, something caught his eye. The colors registered in his mind first, and he had already passed the spot before he had time to process why this thing he'd barely seen had sparked his interest. He backed up. In the dirt, partly hidden in the tall weeds lay a crushed beer can. There was lots of trash lying around, but this stood out. It was the same kind of can that had been on the Curtis porch that night. Dally thought about it for a minute. He started to dismiss his thoughts when he noticed something else. He squatted down for a closer look. There was a wet spot on the ground. Someone had just discarded it recently. Dally stood and looked around. He saw no one. He had heard tires squealing a few moments earlier, but he hadn't bothered to notice where the sound had come from.

He stood there a moment, looking around, and then he saw it. He always knew you could see it from there, but he'd never thought about it. Until now. Standing beside the phone booth on the other side of the lot, he saw the Curtis house, clear as day. His mind was piecing something together. He began to run without even realizing it. He ran as fast as he could toward the house, not really knowing what he was going to do when he got there. He was overcome with a feeling of dread. He thought briefly about going to the school and finding the boys, but he kept running towards the house. 

He threw open the porch door and ran into the house. He stopped dead in his tracks when he got to the kitchen.


	12. Chapter 11

Whoa... I'd better post this quick! Sounds like the last cliff hanger was a bit much, huh? Sorry! I hope it wasn't too confusing- I know it was hard to tell what was going on when, but I think this should clear it up..........

Thanks for all the reviews!!!!

P.S. For those of you that asked, I worked another flashback into the next chapter!!! I hope to post that one soon. 

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Dally came around the corner and jumped back in surprise at seeing someone in the kitchen... Someone with a knife.

"_Johnny_?"

Johnny's eyes closed, he let out his breath and the switchblade fell to the floor. The room was spinning and his whole body ached.

"What are you doing? I thought you were at school!" Dally walked quickly over to where Johnny was sitting and got down in front of him.

Johnny leaned over with his head in his hands. "I didn't go. I didn't feel good."

Dally was already feeling his forehead and the sides of his face. "You're burning up, kid!" he exclaimed.

Johnny let his head fall back on the cabinets and closed his eyes.

"And you're bleeding! Johnnycake, what happened?" Dally looked around. There was blood all over the floor and broken glass everywhere. And then he caught sight of the telephone dangling from it's cord. He walked over to it slowly and picked it up. Then he turned and looked down at Johnny. "You got another phone call, didn't you?"

Johnny nodded. He tried to look like it didn't matter, like he was only sick, not scared to death. He didn't want Dally to think he couldn't handle this. Dally could handle it, if he were in the situation, Johnny thought.

Dally whirled around suddenly and slammed the phone down on the receiver so hard that Johnny thought the whole thing would go right through the wall. "If I get my hands on the..." Dally let loose a string of curses and threats that would've impressed the devil himself.

Johnny was frightened by this reaction for a moment, but composed himself when he realized the rage was not directed at him. 

Dally steadied himself and took a breath before turning back to Johnny. "All right, look, let's get you over to the couch," Dally said. He slid his arm around Johnny's back and gently lifted him to his feet. When he was sure that he was steady enough to walk, Dally lead him back to the livingroom. He left Johnny briefly and returned with a couple of wet cloths and bandages from the bathroom.

It was amazing, Johnny thought, how he could go from seething anger to seemingly calm in just a few seconds. But Johnny knew it was a front. Dally was still mad. He was containing it, for the moment, and Johnny had a bad feeling that he was about to have the same confrontation with Dally that he'd just had with Darry. Only worse.

Johnny closed his eyes and sat back against the cushions of the couch. 

Dally laid the first cloth on his forehead. "You OK, kid?" he asked softly.

Johnny nodded but didn't open his eyes.

Dally took Johnny's hand and pressed the other cloth over the wound. Johnny yelped and sat up, gritting his teeth together. Dally gripped his shoulder, but didn't let go of his hand.

"Sorry, kid. C'mon, hold still, I know it hurts..."

Johnny squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to pull away.

After a minute or two, Dally closed Johnny's fingers over the cloth. "There... hold it like that for a little while.... you'll be OK."

Then Dally got up. Johnny was leaning forward now, his head down and his eyes still shut, but he could hear Dally pacing. Here it comes, he thought.

Johnny looked awful. Dally felt bad, but he wasn't letting this go any further than it already had. He decided not to mention the beer can that he'd found that was leading him to believe that this mess might not have anything to do with Johnny's parents after all. It could turn out to be unrelated and his theories would just end up scaring Johnny unnecessarily. 

"All right now look," Dally started out softly, but Johnny could hear the edge building in his voice. "I just found you sitting on the kitchen floor, scared to death and holding a switchblade out at me. This has gone too far, Johnny. I want you to tell me what is going on." 

Dally hated using that tone with him, but he needed to know. He was scared out of his mind for the kid, and he knew the only way to protect him was to figure out what he wasn't telling anyone.

"Nothing's going on."

Dally glared at him. "Don't lie to me! _Something_ is going on and it's time to fess up, kiddo."

Johnny just stared at the bloody cloth in his hand. He wanted to tell Dally so badly...

"Keeping quiet is not going to cut it anymore. Johnny, I want to know what's bothering you," Dally continued stubbornly.

Johnny paused a moment. He looked briefly at Dally. He's not going to give in this time, Johnny thought. I'm going to have to tell him something.... "My parents..." Oh my gosh.... I can't lie to Dally... I can't... 

Johnny couldn't finish what he'd started. Unfortunately, a few words had already gotten out.

Dally lifted Johnny's chin and looked at his eyes. Johnny couldn't meet his gaze. Dally set his jaw and shook his head. "Nope. Try again."

Johnny was starting to shake. He felt as though he were being torn in half- he had a killer stalking him and Ponyboy telling him to keep his mouth shut and he had the person he admired more than anyone else on Earth demanding that Johnny tell him what was going on. He didn't know what to do. His eyes were filling with tears that he stubbornly held back.

It practically killed Dally to know that he was the one causing them. "Johnny, look, I know you're scared, but I can't do anything to help you if I don't know what's going on!" he said. He tried to keep his tone soft, the last thing in the world he wanted to do was to scare Johnny, but he was getting pretty angry.

"I ain't scared," Johnny lied.

"Then _tell_ me what is going on!"

"I..I can't..."

"WHY NOT???" Dally demanded. "I don't get it, Johnny. Look, can you just tell me what this is about?"

Johnny shook his head.

Dally ran his hand through his hair. Then he looked calmly at Johnny. But Johnny recognized that look. Dally was not happy. And if he were anyone else, Johnny knew he'd be in big trouble right now. 

"I don't care if I have to wait here for the rest of the day," Dally started out quietly, but his voice rose until he was almost yelling. "Hell, I'll wait for the rest of the week! I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me what is going on!"

"If I tell you....." Johnny swallowed and took a deep breath.

Dally knew he had him backed into a corner. He hated what he was doing.

Johnny continued. "If I tell you, Ponyboy's life might be in danger...."

"What do you mean, kid?" Dally lowered his voice.

"I mean, "Johnny was steadying his voice carefully. "that if I tell you, someone will hurt Ponyboy."

Something in his tone surprised Dally. Johnny was actually angry with him. Dally couldn't blame him, really. But it was strange to hear anger in Johnny's voice, especially directed at him. And the few glances he got from Johnny were not the usual defeated, sad looking eyes that he was used to seeing. There was a determined defensiveness in them. This was not going to be as easy as he had thought. If the information he was keeping was to protect someone else, especially Ponyboy, he might not give in no matter what Dally did. This only made Dally more insistent.

"Dammit Johnny! You need to tell me what is going on! No one's gonna hurt Ponyboy! And you know what? If they are, then you need to tell us! You can't protect him alone! You can't even take care of yourself right now!" Dally was yelling, desperately now. 

Johnny was looking away from him. "That doesn't matter..." he said softly.

"What do you mean 'that doesn't matter'?"

Johnny could barely hold back his tears. Suddenly he turned on Dally with a look he'd never had in his eyes before. "You know exactly what I mean! If something happens to Ponyboy, Darry and Soda would die! And that kid's got something that could get him out of this place. He's smart, he's not a greaser. And he's got a family that cares about him that's been through way too much already!" he was screaming, he realized. He sucked in his breath and looked towards the window. He had to be quieter. He lowered his voice. "If something happens to me, it doesn't matter. My parents won't even know I'm gone. But I can't let someone hurt Pony.... he's all they've got left..."

Johnny leaned back against the pillow. He had never, never in his life spoken to anyone that way. And especially not to Dallas Winston. Screaming at Dallas Winston. Smart. What was he in for now, he thought. But part of him didn't care. He was too tired, too emotionally drained. He didn't care that he was almost crying. He just didn't care. He wished Dally would just slug him and go away.

Dally took him roughly by the shoulders, "Don't you talk that way! The boys would know you were gone!" he said indignantly. Dally swore at himself. For crying out loud, why couldn't he just tell him? Why was he so afraid to show anyone that _he_ cared? And then he realized, this was why... because when you care, you get hurt. He thought about that for a brief instant. He could let go of Johnny and walk away right now and become the Dallas Winston that everyone knew. But he looked at Johnny's tearful eyes, still looking away from him, and knew that it was too late for that. And now he had a choice. Expose his human side or risk losing the people he cared about. Ponyboy and Johnny were in trouble, which meant the whole gang was in trouble, really. If anything happened to either one of them....

"Are... are you mad?" Johnny's voice was almost a whisper. He knew the answer before he even asked. He hated for anyone to be angry with him, especially Dally. But in this situation, he had no other choice. And even losing Dally's respect couldn't make him do anything to bring harm to Ponyboy.

"Yes!" Dally growled, standing up and pacing the floor again. He pushed his hair back in exasperation.

Johnny's brow wrinkled slightly as he hung his head.

Dally's heart sank. Now look what you've done, he thought to himself. He walked over to the couch where Johnny sat and plopped down beside him.

Johnny flinched and drew in a quick breath. He was getting a bit nervous about Dally's temper. He had seen Dally mad at people before.... it wasn't pretty. Although, Johnny thought, I wouldn't blame him if he hauled off and slugged me good. 

Dally decided that it was probably not possible to feel worse than he did right then. Keeping his voice down now was not going to help. It was too late, he could tell he was scaring Johnny. 

"Johnny," he said softly. "C'mon, I wouldn't hurt you kid, you know that don't you?"

Johnny thought for a second. He probably _did_ know that, but sometimes he wasn't sure. Nobody could really push Dally too far and he'd never tried to, but he could certainly get away with a lot more than most people could. He wasn't sure why, but Pony's Mom had noticed that too. She'd said something about it to him once, he couldn't remember exactly what. 

But he didn't respond. He just kept looking at the buttons on the couch.

"Let me see that cut," Dally said reaching out his hand.

Johnny extended his hand, still clutching the bloody cloth, still not making eye contact with Dally.

Dally sighed and gently pried Johnny's fingers from the cloth. He continued talking as he bandaged the cut. "I'm not going to lie to you kid. I am mad.... I'm mad because you're scaring the hell out of me, Johnnycake!" Dally struggled to admit what he was going through. 

Johnny glanced at him, just for a second, out of the corner of his eye. That comment surprised him.

"I've never been more afraid of anything in my life... You say nobody would know if you were gone, well damn, Johnny! I would know! _I_ would know. Johnnycake, I don't want anything to happen to you." he said softly, pleadingly. He finished with the bandage and let go of Johnny's hand.

Johnny finally turned and looked at him, curiously. Some of the hurt had disappeared from his eyes.

Dally rubbed his eyes. He had a terrible headache. He didn't feel stress often, but when he did, it always gave him a headache. But he had finally gotten Johnny's attention and he had to go on. "I lost my family too. A long time ago. Not like the Curtises, but you know what I mean," he said, looking at the ground. "I don't even remember if I ever had one."

Now Johnny was staring at him like he had grown a third eye. 

Dally half smiled. And he kept going, this time looking directly at Johnny. "But I have this one baby brother that I'd do _anything_ for, but I guess he doesn't know it.... Johnnycake, you're all _I've_ got left." 

Johnny eyes widened in astonishment, and then he remembered. He remembered as though it had been yesterday what Mrs. Curtis had said to him. 

_He loves you like you were his own little brother..._

Johnny had thought she was nuts, but she'd been right... The tears that he had so vehemently been trying to control finally escaped. He choked back a sob and dropped his head into his hands.

Now Dally really didn't know what to do. "Aww, Johnny... C'mon, kid.... don't.... It's all right." Dally moved a little closer and pulled Johnny towards him. "C'mere.."

Johnny leaned towards Dally and buried his face in his shoulder. 

Dally hugged him and rubbed his back like he'd seen Darry do. He didn't know how to comfort anyone. He'd never done it before. But Johnny needed it so bad, he couldn't just let him sit there. He could feel Johnny's tears soaking through his shirt. And he felt so much anguish building up inside him that he found tears welling up in his own eyes. 

But he wouldn't let any fall. Nope, Dallas Winston had to protect his image, he thought bitterly. He loved that kid so much, he just didn't want to admit it because of his damned _reputation_. And sometimes, he admitted to himself, he was just plain selfish. And look where it left Johnny... alone, scared, helpless... Dally's guilt washed over him like a wave. But he had to stay tough... It was the only way for him to survive in the life he lived. Part of him wanted Johnny to toughen up- get a little meaner, a little more indifferent. But then he wouldn't be Johnny anymore. Dally tried to put the thoughts out of his mind. Just for a few seconds, he wouldn't be cold, mean Dallas Winston... He'd be Johnny's big brother. He held Johnny and let him cry, resting his chin on the top of Johnny's head. "It's all right, Johnny. Shhh..."

A low rumble of thunder off in the distance brought Dally back to reality. As much as he would have liked to give Johnny some more time to calm down, there wasn't any more time. He mustered some control, pushed Johnny back gently and took his face in both hands, wiping away some of his tears.

"Now listen," he said, making Johnny look at him. "You need to trust me. I don't know what or who is making you think you can't tell us what's going on, but I can promise you that's only going to make things worse. I'd like to think that you feel like you could trust me, but right now, that's not the issue. I don't care who you tell, but tell someone, Johnnycake. Darry, Soda, one of the boys... But now you understand that I'm not going to just drop this, don't you?"

There was pain and guilt written all over Johnny's face. He _still_ wasn't going to open his mouth and now it was just going to eat him up inside.

This isn't working, Dally thought. He had to convince Johnny to tell him for Pony's sake, not for himself. He knew because he would do the same thing in Johnny's position. If keeping a secret kept Johnny and Pony from getting hurt, he would take it to his grave. He would do anything to protect those kids, even if it meant danger to himself. He had to approach the problem from a different angle.

"You can't protect Ponyboy all by yourself, and I've got a gut feeling that whatever is going on is pretty bad, isn't it?" he asked.

Johnny looked at him for a second and then nodded hesitantly.

"What if keeping this secret ends up hurting Ponyboy instead of helping him? Is that possible?" Dally asked. 

And Johnny's expression changed. Very subtly, but Dally caught it. There was some hope yet....


	13. Chapter 12

Johnny shuddered. He glanced at Dallas, who was looking at him so intently.... he was not backing down, and Johnny was starting to really wonder if he should just tell him. _Could_ keeping the secret actually end up hurting Ponyboy? He thought about everything Dally had said and realized how oblivious he'd been. Dally wasn't as cold and mean as everyone thought, not deep down. Johnny remembered Dally watching out for him and Ponyboy for days on end when the murders were all over the news, he remembered Dally holding him the night he saw the guy in the porch. 

And he remembered Mrs. Curtis and what she'd told him that day so many years ago. ....

Mrs. Curtis never yelled at Dallas. She knew he got into a lot of trouble, but she never once raised her voice to him. And he respected her. She was the only one who could actually make him feel bad about the things he did, and he really tried to behave himself most of the time while she was alive. She saw something in him that no one else did. She saw past his anger and the hateful expression he wore on his face at times. She saw his loyalty to her boys, and his steadfast protectiveness of Johnny and Ponyboy. Particularly Johnny.

"I wish I had a brother," she overheard 10 year old Johnny say once as he watched the Curtis boys go flying out the front door with the football.

They had, as usual, inhaled their lunch so they could get back outside. They chased eachother to the lot and wrestled in the grass when they got there. Johnny was still working on his lunch. He was a slow eater and he preferred to enjoy his food, as he really only had a decent meal when he was visiting the Curtises. He also enjoyed having conversations with Mrs. Curtis. She was so easy to talk to.

He hadn't actually meant to say what he'd said outloud. He often voiced his thoughts absently around Pony's mom- she seemed to understand him so well that he was never concerned about telling her what was on his mind.

She put down her dish towel and looked at him.

Johnny stopped eating his lunch and looked back at her, wondering if he should have just kept that thought to himself.

"Now why, Johnny Cade, would you say something like that?" She was still smiling, but she looked surprised.

Johnny looked down. "I don't know... I just think it's neat how Pony, Darry and Soda have eachother... They seem really close."

She walked over and pulled out the chair next to him and sat down. "Do you see that boy out there?" she asked pointing out the window to Dallas. 

Dally was out in the front yard working at the tree house "ladder" that was really just boards nailed into the trunk of a tall oak. He'd been preoccupied with it for most of the morning.

Johnny nodded.

"Well, do you know what he's doing?"

"He's fixing those boards on the tree house ladder."

"Mmm hmm. That's what he's doing. Do you know why?" 

"Because they're loose?"

Mrs. Curtis smiled at him. "Yes, but Mr. Curtis said he'd fix it when he got home... Why is Dally out there doing it now?"

He _had_ wondered why Dally hadn't come in for lunch with everyone else. And now, everyone, including Two-bit and Steve, was in the lot kicking the football around. Except for Dally. Johnny just looked blankly at her.

She laughed. "Dally's scared to death that you're going to fall out of that tree again and hurt yourself. He saw you fall yesterday and he begged me to let him fix it _right now_. Why, he even went up in there and checked all the knots on the rope swings."

Johnny looked back out the window. There were usually three ropes hanging down from the corners of the tree house that he and Pony would swing on. Now there were only two.

"What happened to the other rope?" Johnny asked.

"Dally cut it down. Said it was starting to fray and it wasn't safe anymore. He wanted to know if Mr. Curtis might bring home another one."

Johnny thought about this for a minute. "Dally went up in the tree house?"

Mrs. Curtis nodded.

Dally _never_ went up in the tree house. He said someone might see him and he had a reputation to protect. He never said it in a condescending way, he never made fun of Johnny or Ponyboy for playing in it, like the Shepard boys did. He was very matter-of-fact about it. He was 11 and he had an image to up hold and that was that. 

"Don't you see, Johnny? Maybe you're not related by blood, but that doesn't matter! Dally loves you like you were his own little brother! Oh, he'll never say that of course, you know, he has an image and all...." Mrs Curtis rolled her eyes good naturedly. "But you watch him, Johnny, and you'll see. His actions speak volumes."

Johnny's jaw had dropped. He quickly closed it before any food fell out of his mouth.

Mrs. Curtis continued, "Like just yesterday when Ricky was picking on you and Ponyboy... well, you know I don't approve of fighting.... but that little bully had it coming!"

This time a potato chip fell right out of Johnny's mouth.

Steve, Ricky and Soda had been good friends. Ricky's parents were moving to the South Side since his dad had gotten the big promotion. Ricky had been intolerable ever since his dad broke the news. He was always rubbing it in to Soda and Steve, trying to show that he was better at everything. He had gotten fiercely competitive. They were always racing in the lot, and Ricky would always win. But one day he made the mistake of racing Ponyboy. Or maybe Ponyboy made the mistake of racing Ricky, either way, the end result was a 10 year old getting into a fight with an 8 year old. Johnny had been at the finish line when Ponyboy crossed it first, so he was the one to step in when Ricky became aggressive to the youngest of the gang. Ricky turned on Johnny and swung a punch that Johnny ducked. Johnny didn't even have time to swing back because Dally came flying in out of now where and tackled Ricky to the ground.

"You lay a hand on him and I'll pound you so far into the ground you'll be living on the South Side of China, you good-for-nothing asshole!" Dally added a few more choice words after that and started slugging Ricky.

Mrs. Curtis had pulled the boys apart and Ricky had run off screaming.

"Now Dallas! You know better than that!" 

Dally looked at the ground. But he hadn't missed the fleeting expression on Mrs. Curtis's face as she scolded him. She knew Ricky had asked for it.

"And that language! I don't know if you'll be having cake with the rest of us this afternoon."

Dally looked up at her. She was forcing a disappointed look and it wasn't working. He grinned at her. She turned away from him immediately and pretended to storm back to the house.

Johnny had always wondered if she had been laughing.

Later that same afternoon, Dally was given cake along with everyone else.

Mrs. Curtis laughed, watching Johnny remember the events of the previous day. "He keeps a good eye on you... and Ponyboy too. Why, I think he'd do just about anything to keep you safe. But you didn't hear ANY of this from me, young man. Understand?"

Johnny had grinned at her and nodded. But he wasn't sure if he believed her or not. Dally was the toughest kid in their neighborhood. He was the coolest person Johnny knew. And Dally liked to fight people. He would fight anybody for the sake of fighting, and, in Johnny's mind, that's exactly what had happened that afternoon. The thought that Dally would give a darn about anyone, let alone Johnny himself, was a bit much to take in. 

But Mrs. Curtis had been right. And Dally had actually admitted to it. And now Dally was insisting that Johnny tell him what was going on because he didn't want him or Ponyboy to get hurt. It all comes down to one question, Johnny thought suddenly. Who do I trust more? Dally or some psycho in the woods? 

And then it was as though a light had suddenly turned on. The man in the ski mask wouldn't necessarily leave Pony alone even if Johnny did exactly what he was told.

Dally's right, Johnny thought. I can't protect him alone.... 

The sky was growing darker and the heat had become oppressive. Johnny prayed silently that he wasn't about to sign Pony's death warrant by what he was about to do. He took a deep breath and looked toward the porch window. "All right," he whispered. "I'll tell you..."

Relief flooded over Dally, but he remained expressionless, fearful that if he even moved, Johnny might change his mind.

"But we have to be quiet," Johnny continued, his eyes betraying the fear he tried to hide. "If he hears me..."

Dally's stomach went cold all of a sudden._ If he hears me_? What did that mean? This didn't sound like anything he'd been imagining. "Johnny, what are you talking about? Who's going to hear you?" he kept his voice low to comply with Johnny's request, even though he didn't understand.

Johnny's breathing was becoming faster and he was shaking. He didn't look at Dally, but kept his eyes moving around the room, looking at the windows, the doors... 

"Johnny..." he whispered. "Who?"

And then Johnny met his gaze, briefly, with eyes full of desperation and terror. "That... that guy... the one in jail for all the murders.... it's not him. The real murderer is still walking around Tulsa."

Dally could feel a chill run down his spine and every muscle in his body stiffened as Johnny went on.

"I saw him in the woods. He calls the house when I'm here alone. He-he did this." Johnny indicated the gash on his side.

Dally stared at him.... he couldn't imagine Johnny making something like that up, but it sounded absolutely crazy. And horrifying. "Johnny, " he said slowly and quietly. "You're making that up, right?"

Please say you're making it up, Dally thought to himself. But he knew by Johnny's behavior that he wasn't. And then Johnny did finally take his eyes off the window and looked right at Dally. Then he knew for sure.

"I swear I'm not making it up, Dal. I wish I was."

He knew Johnny had been hiding something big, but this surprised him.

Johnny was shaking violently and he was talking so quietly that Dally could barely hear him. "He's probably watching us right now... He watches me all the time.... and Ponyboy. He said he doesn't want to kill anyone for a while because he doesn't want them to know they got the wrong guy, but I saw him in the woods. He says he's going to leave Tulsa soon, but he's sticking around for a while to make sure I don't tell anyone. He said that if I said anything to anyone, he would kill Pony. And then me. He kept telling me it would be my fault. It would be up to me if I wanted to put the Curtises through any more hell."

Dally was taking this all in and trying not to show fear. How did this guy know so much?

Johnny continued. "He said he could get Ponyboy when he runs in track practice, and he said he can get me real easy because I'm always alone."

Dally felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. Johnny was always alone. He'd been so careful to watch him when the killer was roaming the streets a few weeks back, but when he was really in trouble, where had he been?

You can't hover over him all the time, he told himself. And now was not the time for guilt. He would have to worry about that later. 

"I... I wanted to tell you... anyone... " Johnny's was choking on his words. "But I was afraid he'd hurt Ponyboy.. I'm still.... Dally... what if he goes after Ponyboy?"

Johnny was getting frantic. Dally could hear the panic in his voice.

"OK," Dally whispered. He put his hand on Johnny's arm to steady him. "All right, we'll figure this out... everything's gonna be fine, Johnnycake..."

He knew Johnny didn't believe him. Dally didn't believe himself. But right now, he had to take some kind of action. And this was too big to handle alone. He had to call Darry.

Dally breathed deeply and carefully steadied his voice. "All right. You know what? We have to call Darry and have him pick up Ponyboy from school. He doesn't have practice today, does he?"

Johnny shook his head. He'd been carefully keeping track of Ponyboy's schedule.

"I don't know who this guy is, but we aren't taking any chances. OK?"

Johnny nodded and pulled his knees into his chest. 

"All right, I'll be right back. Relax, buddy. It'll be all right, " Dally said and hurried off to the kitchen.

Johnny heard him dialing the phone and asking for Darry. He listened while Dally started to tell Darry what was going on. Then the screen door burst open making Johnny nearly jump out of his skin, but Two-bit announced himself loudly as he entered the room.

"Woo! It's a hot one out there today! Looks like a big old storm headed this way. How goes it, Johnnycake?" he said as he made his way to the kitchen to look for food.

"Hey Two-bit." Johnny suddenly noticed he was alone. "Where's Ponyboy?"

"Coach scheduled a practice this morning. He's at track."

Johnny's whole body went numb. 

Two-bit had disappeared into the kitchen. 

"Wait, Darry, I hear Two-bit," Dally said into the phone. "They're back. You better come home anyway." 

He hung up just as Two-bit walked into the kitchen .

"What's goin' on, Dal?" Two-bit asked as he pulled a beer out of the refrigerator.

"A lot..." Dally said and quietly told him everything.

But a minute or two into the explanation, Two-bit stopped him suddenly. "Dal, Pony's at track practice right now!"

"_WHAT?_ He's not with you?" Dally stared at him for a brief second and then noticed the complete silence coming from the other room. He felt as though a block of ice had suddenly formed in the pit of his stomach. He shoved past Two-bit and went to the livingroom. 

Johnny was not on the couch any more.

Please be in the bathroom.... Dally prayed as he made his way to the hallway. The bathroom door was wide open and no one was in there. 

Dally swore and slammed his fist into the wall. Then he bolted out the front door and down the front porch steps with Two-bit at his heels. 

Dally ran with every ounce of strength he had left. All thoughts of how exhausted he was left his mind.

One of two things had just happened. Either Johnny had gone to get Ponyboy......

Or the killer had come to get Johnny. 


	14. AN

Hello, sorry about this repeated chapter! Fanfiction was being really weird that day and it kept giving me error messages and somehow, chapter 12 loaded twice. Anyhow... I thought I'd just replace it with a very quick note to the reviewers, since it says if I delete it, I lose the reviews for that chapter!!

Also, my appologies for not updating in a while.... I'm building a house, moving and believe it or not, I have been working a bit on new chapters for "So You're Leaving", if anyone's interested!! I am debating whether or not to continue it, I kind of liked it the way it ended, but I suddenly came up with some ideas about what happened after that.... I will finish this one first, though!

Well, anyhow, I'll make this quick and get on with the story!

It's been a while and I don't know where I left off, so I'm very sorry if I miss your name!!! Thanks SO much to:

**Two-Bit Gortez, Girlsdon'tCri, WolfofBlackDawn, kimmerkay,Deadly, Wisk8r, MissLkid, Jessie C, Silver Spirit, Tiger JC, Pony's Girl, shyxshortiexbabe, Ilovelegolas, Emily, Darkdestiny2000, Dally'sgirl4life, Drunk off Soda, Rebellin, Amanda, Ski-ming Bitch, Vanilla Sky, xperpxhaterx, Wanda,**

and** Kurupt Emotions**- Whoa. Someone needs to lay off the Mountain Dew!!! Just kidding, that review was hilarious.


	15. Chapter 13

The heat was unbearable. He had never felt this level of exhaustion before. But he kept running. He had been running since Two-bit had told him that Pony was at track practice, and Johnny would keep running until he got to the school. He thought as he ran that he probably should have told Dally that they had to get Pony, but what if he didn't understand how serious this was? What if he just sent Darry over to pick him up? Johnny pushed the thoughts aside. He didn't have the energy to think about anything other than keeping Ponyboy out of those woods. He was really too sick to think at all. In the back of his mind, he realized he was doing something really stupid. 

He just kept going. The sky was growing ominously dark.

Dally and Two-bit ran down the street as fast as they could. "Where _IS_ he?" Dally growled through clenched teeth. Johnny had gotten a fairly good head start, but Dally knew he was heading to the school. That was, if the killer had not gotten to him first.

Don't think like that! Dally scolded himself. That's crazy.

"Dal, I don't think Johnny went this way..." Two-bit said gasping for air. He knew where Johnny was headed, too.

"What are you taking about?" Dally said, not slowing down, not looking back.

"He and Pony have some... short cut or something. I'm always running late, so I drive. I've never gone that way, but I've heard them talk about it. They cut through some fields and woods, I think..."

Dally swore and finally stopped running. He turned and grabbed Two-bit's shirt collar. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner??" he demanded.

"I just caught up to you!!"

"Well, which way do you think he went?"

Dally had a desperate look in his eye and Two-bit was growing concerned that he might get slugged. He braced for the worst as he answered, " I told you, I don't know... I've never gone that way.... I've never wanted to get to school on time!."

Dally scowled then took off running again.

Two-bit started to run after him, but suddenly caught sight of Darry's truck a few blocks over, headed in their direction, driving like the devil was after him.

"Dally!" he screamed. "It's Darry! C'mon!"

Dally stopped dead in his tracks and turned. He and Two-bit ran towards the old red Ford, waving wildly.

Darry pulled over and leaned out the window. Fear was written all over his face. Those boys would not be outside running all over creation unless something was wrong, he thought. "What's going on?" he yelled.

"Darry, drive to the school, man! Pony's at track after all and Johnny took off after him!" Dally said, scrambling into the passenger seat of the pickup as Two-bit vaulted himself into the back. 

Darry's tires screeched as he took off without further questioning.

After a short while, Johnny reached the woods. On the other side was the school. Going around the woods would take more time. Through the woods would be the fastest, but he might not come out the other side.... 

He caught me off guard last time, Johnny thought. I'll have a better chance this time if I'm looking for him. He took his switchblade out of his pocket and ran straight into the small forest of trees.

Darry was driving as fast as he could without putting them all in danger. He had been contemplating the situation for the past few seconds. Finally, he voiced his thoughts.

"I don't think it's him, Dal."

"Huh?"

"The killer... I don't think this guy, who ever he is, is the real 'Tulsa Ripper', or what ever they were calling him."

"What makes you think that?" Dally asked.

Darry carefully considered what he was about to say, but realized there was really no way to sugar coat it. " Because I think he would have just killed him, Dal."

Dally went white.

"Think about it.... why would this guy have caught Johnny, told him not to say anything to anyone and then just let him go? That was not how that guy worked. They've got the real killer, this is someone else."

"I don't care who this is, this guy's been stalking Johnny for weeks... and from what I can tell, he's after Pony too." 

"I'm not saying that this isn't serious," Darry said, keeping the nervous edge out of his voice. He was just as scared as Dally was, but he knew he needed to keep his wits about him. Panicing would not help them at all. "I'm just saying that I don't think it's the same person." He wanted to say that he didn't think this person was a killer, but he was starting to wonder.

Dally knew he was trying to calm the situation, but it really wasn't working.


	16. Chapter 14

Johnny ran through the woods, every muscle tensed and prepared for someone to jump out and grab him at any given second. He had always felt so peaceful in the small forest, but now it was dark and forboding. Tree branches reached out and scratched him as he ran by. Dark shadows loomed around every corner.

He grew more and more nervous as he approached the school. He had told Dally everything. Everything from the phone calls to the guys in study hall talking about seeing the man in the woods. If the man's threats were true and any of what Johnny said had been overheard, Pony was in deep trouble. Just as he began to wonder if the track team had started their run yet, he saw them through the trees. Two things surprised him... one, that he'd reached the other side of the woods without incident, and two, the track team seemed to be dispersing. He saw the coach point to the sky and waving the kids off. Johnny looked up. He suddenly recognized the weather conditions and his stomach sank. The clouds, the heat, the heaviness in the air... this was classic tornado weather. The coach was canceling the practice and that was probably why. Now there was another reason to get Pony home as soon as possible. 

Johnny ran down the hill and towards the group of boys that were picking up their water bottles and towels. "Ponyboy!" he yelled.

Ponyboy looked up. "Hey, Johnny! You feeling better?"

Some socs had noticed Johnny running towards the group. They were elbowing eachother and pointing at him. He felt somewhat uncomfortable, but he didn't have time to worry about them. They happened to be the same ones he'd over heard talking in study hall. He was really surprised they still came to track practice. Of course, the man in the mask had not actually attacked either of them and threatened them within and inch of their lives. They had just caught a glimpse of him. And, Johnny realized suddenly, they were part of the group of socs that had caught the man in the cemetery that was now in jail.... They had no reason to think that the guy in the woods was the real killer. As far as they knew, they were all still heros for catching a murderer and bringing him to justice.

Johnny grabbed Pony's arm and started dragging him off the field. "C'mon, we gotta go home!" 

"Johnny! What's- why? I.." Ponyboy stammered in confusion. But he willingly followed Johnny. He saw the look in his eyes and knew something was up. "Is everybody ok?"

"For now... C'mon! I'll explain on the way."

Pony started heading off towards the woods. Johnny grabbed him again. "Pony, NO! ... This way..." Johnny steered him towards the field. He'd come through the woods fine once, but he wasn't going to risk it again. They would take the long way around this time.

He could hear the socs still on the field yelling "Greasers!" and then a few of them took off running towards their cars. Johnny saw the coach grab one of the boys and heard him growl, "You skip again you're off the team, you know that right?"

"It was study hall!" the boy griped and shook loose from the coach's grasp, jogging off to his car.

"Don't matter!" the coach called after him. "And don't I don't want to smell anything on your breath but chewing gum next time you're here! You got that?" But the soc was already busy rummaging around in his car, completely ignoring the coach.

Kicked off the team. Whatever, Johnny thought. One call from "Daddy-the lawyer/doctor/architect" and the guy would be back on the team even if he was skipping the actual track practices. He glanced over his shoulder, hoping the socs were just going to drive home. He didn't need to deal with one more thing today.

"Johnny, what's going on?" Ponyboy yelped, interrupting Johnny's thoughts.

Johnny groaned and began telling the story all over again. He figured it didn't make any difference now who he told.

They reached the school just in time to see the last of the track team leaving the field, but Ponyboy and Johnny were no where to be seen.

Dally swore. "Now what?!"

Darry had stopped the truck. He was beginning to feel the onset of panic. Keep cool, he told himself. 

"There!!" Two-Bit screamed from the back of the truck. Darry turned to see where he was pointing. 

In the distance, he could make out a figure entering the woods.


	17. Chapter 15

Darry slammed his foot on the gas pedal and sped towards the woods, right across the school grounds. He ignored all the people shouting at him. He didn't care if they called the police. He had to make it to the woods. He had to make it to Ponyboy and Johnny.

Dally was unconsciously chewing on his fingers, his eyes blazing. He was mumbling something that Darry couldn't quite make out.

When they reached the trees, they had to get out of the truck and run on foot. Dally was out and running before Darry came anywhere near a complete stop. 

"Two-bit, take the truck around the woods and meet us on the other side." Darry said as he slid out of the driver's seat. Two-Bit jumped out of the back and did as he was told.

Johnny and Ponyboy hurried around the woods into the open field on the other side. Johnny was about out of breath. He was feeling horribly sick, but he knew he had to keep going. There was no doubt about it now. A twister was coming, and they had to find some shelter. Johnny was starting to wonder if they'd make it back to the house in time. He glanced towards the small forest. There was very little light from the sky due to the cloud cover, which made the woods that much more imposing. Beyond the trees there was only blackness. They had gone around the forest and were now were moving away from it, but not nearly fast enough for Johnny's liking. He wasn't sure what Ponyboy was thinking. He was pretty sure he was scared, but the whole story, he knew, was a lot to take in at one time.

And then Ponyboy's voice interrupted Johnny's thoughts, almost making him jump. "Do you think he's in there?" he asked, looking towards the trees. Johnny could hear the fear in his voice.

"I don't know, Pony."

Johnny tried to tear his eyes away from the trees, but he couldn't. He watched. He watched the forest and the darkness and knew that something horrible was lurking just beyond it. The thought that he'd just run through it earlier made him shiver. He continued running and watching as the limbs rustled and swayed against the strong winds. And suddenly, through the branches, Johnny saw movement of another kind, and then color... color that would not naturally be found in the forest. His stomach froze as a man leapt from the trees, running towards them, his face covered with a bright red mask that only showed his eyes.

Dally caught sight of movement up ahead. Movement and a flash of red clothing. Berry bushes and sticks ripped at his arms and caught on his jeans, but he kept running. Darry was right beside him. As they neared the edge of the woods, he had a clearer view of what was going on. The person they were chasing was definitely wearing something over his head. And Dally could faintly make out two people way across the open field that he knew were Ponyboy and Johnny. 

But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw more movement. And two people sprinted through the woods away from him. They were a good distance away, so Dally could not see who they were, and for a second, he slowed down. Was that Ponyboy and Johnny? He looked back to the field. No, one of those boys had jet black hair. It was the only distinct feature he could make out. That had to be Johnny. 

He didn't know if Darry had seen the other people in the woods, but at this point, he didn't care. He knew where Pony and Johnny were. He could see the man in the mask. He had one focus.

The man had a knife. 

A realization struck Johnny. Ponyboy would be able to out run him. Johnny knew he couldn't. He pulled out his switch and shoved Ponyboy forward.

"Go!"

Ponyboy yanked Johnny's arm. He screamed at Johnny in terror, "C'mon! Johnny, run!"

Johnny stood his ground. It was one thing if the guy was just after him. But now it was a different story. And if he ran, the man would catch up to him eventually and bring him down. And Ponyboy would run at Johnny's pace and be caught too. "Ponyboy! Get out of here!" 

The forcefulness of Johnny's voice surprised Pony. But he stayed put.

And when both of them stopped running, so did the man in the ski mask. They all stared at eachother for a brief moment and then a voice broke the silence.

"JOHNNY!!" Dally screamed and started running towards them.

The man in the ski mask turned around. He took one look at Dally coming towards him and took off. Bewildered, Johnny and Ponyboy stood there for a second and watched the man run. Then, regaining their senses, they started running towards Dally and Darry. As the boys got closer to Dally, they realized he wasn't going to stop. He was headed for the fleeing man and he'd catch him if it took his last breath. But the storm was getting worse and they could all see the funnel cloud moving towards the ground.

Johnny reached out and grabbed at Dally's jacket as Dally sped past him. But he missed and Dally just kept on going. Johnny started after him, but was quickly tackled to the ground by Two-Bit, who had just showed up with the truck.

"Get them in the truck, NOW! Take them home!" Darry yelled as he took off after Dally.

Two-Bit and Ponyboy dragged Johnny towards Darry's pickup. He struggled against them.

"NO!! He'll kill him- Two-Bit, let me go-"

But Two-Bit had a firm grasp on him, and with Ponyboy helping and Johnny being so weakened from exhaustion, he could not get away.

"Johnny, no! Get in the truck-"

Johnny looked at him desperately. "We have to get them- Please! He'll kill them both-"

"Johnny! We will. Just get in the truck. We'll go get them!" Two-Bit loosened his grasp as he felt Johnny relax slightly. "We'll go get them."

Darry was fast. Running was a skill that ran in the family, but Pony was really the only one who had chosen to do anything with it. Darry felt a slight exhilaration as he ran after Dally, pushing himself to move faster and faster. But it was fear that was really driving him. He wondered if he'd have been able to move like this if he were running without the sense of urgency. He was gaining quickly on Dally who had no chance of catching the man in the mask. He was pulling away at an amazing speed. Ponyboy might have been able to catch him, Darry thought for a moment, but what then? And, if Two-Bit had listened to him, Ponyboy was safely on his way home.

Two-Bit started up the engine. leaves and branches were blowing everywhere. He thought briefly about breaking his promise to Johnny and heading back to the house like Darry had told him to do. But he knew that if he did, both boys would be out of the car going after Darry and Dally and there would be nothing he could do to stop them. He could contain one of them, but not both. Ponyboy hadn't said anything, but Two-Bit could tell he was one impulse away from jumping out of the truck and taking off after his brother. So he turned the truck in the direction that Dally had gone in and floored it.

Darry came up behind Dally and lunged. He landed much more forcefully than he intended, and Dally came crashing to the ground with a thud and a grunt that indicated the wind had been knocked out of him. Darry knew he'd probably hurt him, but he'd had no choice. 

But the pain didn't slow Dally at all. He squirmed underneath Darry and kicked at him as hard as he could. "GET OFF ME, CURTIS!!" he yelled. "What are you doing?! You get off me right now, I'm going to kill that guy!!"

Darry knew he was serious. Coming from anyone else, 'kill that guy' would've meant 'mess him up real bad'. Coming from Dally, it meant the guy would be six feet under before he even saw Dally coming. And Darry understood. He had the same rage inside him. Someone had threatened his brother's life and his friend's. He wanted nothing more than to break the neck of the person responsible. But Darry had foresight too. Something Dally lacked. Darry knew if he killed that man, he would go to jail and Pony and Soda would go to a boys home. 

At that moment, off in the distance, they both heard a loud cracking and another sound, one very hard to make out over the wind, but it sounded very much like a scream. They both stopped for a moment and listened. It had come from the direction that the masked man had gone. 


	18. Chapter 16

Dally and Darry froze, listening.... the scream was drowned out by the wind getting louder and louder.

They were both still laying on the ground from when Darry had tackled Dally. And then Dally started cursing and swinging at Darry. He was still determined to go after the guy. Darry placed his full weight across Dally's shoulders so that he could barely move, even though he continued trying. Darry did not miss the fleeting look of agony that crossed Dally's face.

I must've hurt him pretty bad when I brought him down, Darry thought with a twinge of guilt. But he couldn't do anything about it now.

"Dally! Shut the hell up and listen! There's a funnel cloud that's going to touch down any second! You get your ass up and we're going back to the house NOW."

The last part of Darry's command was drowned out by what sounded like a freight train coming through the field. Dally had lived in Tulsa long enough to recognize that sound. He stopped struggling. Darry grabbed his arm and dragged him to his feet. 

Pain shot through Dally's side and for a moment, he was thankful for the howling wind that drowned out his cry of pain. As they started to run and he silently cursed the oldest Curtis brother, all the while knowing deep down that Darry had probably saved his life. And then his thoughts suddenly shifted to Ponyboy and Johnny. "Where are the kids?" he yelled to Darry. Just talking hurt. Yelling was torture.

"What?" Darry yelled back. It was impossible to hear anything. And they could barely see with all the debris flying through the air. But they looked up just in time to avoid running right into a red Ford pickup truck that was flying through the field in a way it was never meant to be driven. They ran towards it and climbed in the back, Dally with great difficulty. Darry leaned over to the driver's side window and banged on it as they took off towards home. 

"I thought I told you to take those kids home!! Two-Bit, what the hell were you thinking?" he screamed. 

Two-Bit glanced back at him quickly, made a gesture indicating that he couldn't hear, (which Darry knew full well was a lie) and turned back to look where he was going.

Darry gave up leaned back against the cab of the truck. He looked back to where they'd come from and could see the funnel cloud in the distance, headed in their direction. The sky was black and the wind howled. He glanced over at Dally who was leaning up against the side of the truck, his eyes closed, his breathing ragged.

Staying low, he moved over to him and put his hand on Dally's shoulder. Dally flinched and opened his eyes.

"You OK?" Darry shouted.

Dally closed his eyes again and nodded.

Darry didn't believe him.

"Dally?" he yelled. "Kiddo.... c'mon, what's the matter?" he wondered if maybe he'd broken one of Dally's ribs when he'd tackled him. He ran his hands carefully down Dally's sides.

Dally cringed and yelped, shoving Darry's hands away angrily.

Darry swore. "Dally, I'm sorry buddy... we'll get you home..." He didn't think Dally could hear him though. 

As soon as they pulled into the Curtis driveway, Steve and Soda came running out the door. Tim Shepard was even there.

"Where were you?" Soda yelled indignantly. 

"Get in the house! Soda, take Pony and Johnny inside!" Darry said.

Dally tried to stand and couldn't. Darry slid his arm around his back and lifted him carefully. Tim hopped up in the back of the pick up to help.

"Dally?" Johnny had suddenly noticed Dally's condition and started heading back towards the truck. 

"Johnny, get in the house! NOW!" Dally growled at him. Just the short utterance sent pain shooting through his side. 

Soda grabbed Johnny's arm and pulled him into the house.

"Dally!" Johnny called, looking back towards the truck as Soda and Steve dragged him inside.

"He's OK, kid. C'mon... we gotta get downstairs!" Steve said, leading him to the basement.

Tim and Darry carefully helped Dally out of the back of the truck as the wind howled and debris of all kinds flew past their heads. A loud crack of a tree limb could barely be heard over the ever deafening freight train sound that signaled the tornado was not far away.

Once they reached the porch and entered the livingroom, Tim asked, "What the hell is going on?" 

"I'll explain in a minute- let's get him to the basement!"

As they reached the bottom step, Dally shook loose from their grasp. "Back off! I'm all right!" he said scowling at Darry. He could barely breathe.

"Dally?" Johnny approached him timidly. He could hear the pain in Dally's voice. 

Dally turned on him. "And you! What the hell were you thinking? Running out of the house after telling me there was a killer walking around on the street?" Dally was yelling as loud as his sore ribs would let him. His breathing was labored, but he kept going, stepping closer to Johnny. "You should know better! I aught to-"

"Dallas!" Tim stepped between the two of them. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew if Dally was mad at Johnny, something big had gone down. "Cool it."

Johnny backed up a bit. It upset him that Dally was angry with him, but not as much as it normally would have. Johnny felt so sick, he barely knew what was going on. 

Dally's blood was boiling. He stalked off to the other side of the room and slid down, with some difficulty, until he was sitting on the floor . He was furious at Darry for the pain he was in. He was mad at Johnny for running out of the house. And most of all, he was filled with rage over the fact that the man in the mask had gotten away.

Maybe.

The scream. He couldn't get the scream out of his head. Was that the guy who'd been chasing Johnny and Ponyboy? Maybe something horrible had happened to him and there was still a chance they could catch him. The thought almost made him feel better.

Johnny went over to sit with Ponyboy and Soda. Steve followed him.

"Don't worry about him, kid. He'll cool off," he said, giving Johnny a pat on the back.

"Yeah, sit down, Johnnycake. You look like you need to get off your feet for a bit," Soda looked at him with some concern.

Johnny looked more tired than he'd ever seen him. Johnny didn't hesitate at the invitation to sit. In fact he laid right down on the floor beside Soda and closed his eyes.

He could hear Darry and Tim on the other side of the room talking to Dally. They were arguing about something, but he was too tired to listen. He felt someone's hand on his forehead.

"Man, the kid's burning up!" It was Steve's voice.

"But he's shivering.... Steve there's a blanket over on that shelf."

A moment later, Johnny felt the blanket covering up his shoulders and something soft being placed under his head. He was almost asleep when one of the basement windows shattered and all the lights went out. 

Johnny sat bolt up right and he could hear Ponyboy draw in his breath.

Johnny and Ponyboy huddled closer to Soda, and Steve got down beside them. 

Darry came over to them as quickly as he could with out being able to see. 

"Darry?" Soda said shakily.

"It's all right, it was just the wind. I'll find some flash lights."

*********************************************

Ok, I hope this ending was a little less "cliffy"!! I'm trying to keep updated as best I can, but I'm in the middle of a move- I'm actually living in a hotel right now while my house is STILL being built. But I finally got my computer set up and hopefully I will finish this story before we move again!!

Thank you SO much for all the wonderfull reviews!!

jade- Thanks so much! Glad you're enjoying the story!

Amber- Thanks for reading!

Two-BitGortez- Thanks for the review!! Are you going to write more for "Having A Family"? 

Pony's girl- Thanks for all the great reviews!

CrazyLilDreamer- I'm glad you checked out my story! Thanks for the nice review!

Dally'sGirl4Life- I'm glad you're enjoying the story!

Deadly Wisteria- Good guess, but the killer didn't have Ponyboy... Not this time, anyway!! Thanks for reading.

darkdestiny2000- Thanks so much for the review!

Joce- I appreciate your review!! Thanks for reading.

Lillia E- I had fun reading all your reviews! Thanks for taking the time to do that- I can't believe you read almost the whole story in one sitting!

Mistress Holbytla- Thank you so much for the nice review! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story.

kurupt emotions- You're a nut! Thanks for the review! Hey, are you ever gonna finish "Nightmares"? I LOVE that story!!!

Anigrl20- Thank you thank you!!

wisk8r- Thanks for all your reviews! I really appreciate it! 

Araya Arwen- Thank you so much for reading!

And to GirlsDontCri, Kimmerkay, and Jessica- Sorry for all the cliff hangers! Every time I do it, I know I'm going to get yelled at, but I can't help myself!! I am toning this one down for you and anyone else who's had enough for a while!! :) But, it's not over yet.... Thanks for the reviews!!

And thanks again to EVERYONE who has stuck with this story for so long!!


	19. Chapter 17

Johnny leaned weakly on Soda's shoulder, Ponyboy on the other. Darry fumbled around in the dark and finally came up with a flashlight. There was still some light coming into part of the basement from the broken window, but not much. Most of the corners of the basement were very dark.

Johnny closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing. The shattering window had gotten his heart pounding.

Soda could feel heat radiating off Johnny's forehead. "Hey, kiddo," he said nervously. "You doin' OK?"

Johnny nodded.

Darry and Tim worked together boarding up the window, but it sounded like things were starting to die down.

Dally stood cautiously. 

Darry caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned around. "Where are you going?"

Dally looked at him in disgust. "Where do you think?"

Darry's stomach turned cold. He knew exactly where Dally was going because he'd just been thinking about going out himself. "Dally, it's still pouring outside- there's probably wires down everywhere- sit down!"

Dally looked dangerously at him. They stared eachother down for a moment, and Darry, realizing he wasn't talking to someone who would listen to him, gave up and watched as Dally pushed past him and headed up the stairs. He hesitated briefly and looked at Johnny, a fleeting expression of concern crossed his face before he turned and continued towards the first floor. Tim started to follow him.

"Tim, hold up," Darry said.

Tim turned around and looked at Darry. Darry couldn't read his expression at all, but he knew Tim and Dally were good buddies. Tim now had all the facts. He knew what had happened and he knew how angry Dally was. Darry figured Tim could probably sense the tension between him and Dally. His only hope was that Tim would understand that Dally wasn't thinking quite straight right now and maybe he would try to talk some sense into him to keep him out of trouble.

"Tim," Darry looked at him seriously. "I don't want him goin' to jail again. None of us do..."

Tim glanced around the room and then back at Darry. Without a word, he turned and headed up the stairs after Dally.

Darry clenched his teeth and rubbed his forehead. He hoped he'd gotten through to Tim, but Tim was as much of a loose cannon as Dally. There was no telling what kind of trouble they could cause if Tim decided he was in the right mood.

He had to follow them. He turned to Soda. "Sodapop, you stay here, you understand? You keep an eye on these two," he indicated Johnny and Ponyboy.

Soda nodded. "Where are they going?"

"I don't know, " Darry lied. He got down and felt Johnny's head and hesistated. "Take him upstairs in a minute or two if it sounds like the wind isn't going to start up again. He needs to lie down in a bed."

Johnny moaned softly. He was sleeping, but not peacefully.

"You're gonna be all right, little guy, " Darry said, pushing Johnny's hair back.Then he stood and looked towards the stairs. "I'll be back as soon as I can... Steve, Two-Bit, I could use a hand..."

Steve and Two-Bit were at his side the second he made the request. Darry handed the flashlight to Soda. Then the three of them headed up the stairs together and into the devastation outside. 

Soda's eyes followed them. "I don't like this... where are they all going?" he whispered.

Ponyboy watched them, too. "Probably to out to find that guy that's been chasing Johnny," he replied. 

Soda stared at him. "WHAT?"

Pony suddenly realized that Soda didn't know what was going on. He explained what he could to him, from what Johnny had told him.

"He was wearing a ski mask? You mean, just like that guy a few weeks ago? But he's in jail..." Soda's voice trailed off. "Somebody's playing some sort of sick joke?"

"I don't know... Johnny seemed to take it pretty seriously." Ponyboy still wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole situation. It was all rather overwhelming, and pretty terrifying. He looked over at Johnny. "Is he OK, Soda?"

Soda pushed Johnny's hair back. "Yeah, he'll be all right. He just needs some rest. We'll take him upsatirs."

Darry hopped in the truck, Two-Bit and Steve followed. They drove a little ways through fallen tree branches and debris of all kinds and soon they saw Dally and Tim.

Darry pulled up beside them. "Get in."

Wordlessly, they hopped in the back.

Darry took off towards the woods. It was starting to get dark. But he wasn't afraid. He was too full of anger.

As they got closer, he sped up until they couldn't go any farther and they all got out. 

"Is this about where he went back into the woods?" Darry asked.

Dally nodded, listening. And then he heard it. A faint moaning coming from deep inside the cluster of trees.

They all started running.

"Paul?" a voice called out as they got closer. "Mike?"

And then they saw him. Lying on the ground, his legs pinned securely under a very heavy looking tree limb, was a man- no, wait, Darry looked harder. A boy! A teenage boy about Soda's age, but bigger built than Soda. He could be mistaken easily for someone older, had Darry not gotten a glimpse of his face.

Dally was charging towards him. Darry stepped in front of him. "STOP!" he whispered. "We don't know this is him!"

Dally looked at him like he'd lost his mind, but he stopped.

They approached the boy cautiously.

"Paul?" the kid was sounding desparate and in a lot of pain.

Darry circled around to where he could see the kid straight on. The kid looked up and terror filled his eyes. And then Darry saw a piece of cloth lying next to the kid's hand. A red piece of cloth. With holes cut for eyes.

He bent over and picked it up, rage filling every fiber of his being. Dally headed forward, his eyes deadly.

Darry grabbed him and got right in his face. "NOT until I get some answers! Understand?"

Dally looked murderous. And Tim stepped in, pushing him back. Steve stood beside Tim.

"You got one minute, Curtis!" Dally threatened. Darry knew that the only reason Dally didn't have his hands around the kid's throat, other than possibly the fact that Tim and Steve were standing in his way, was that he wasnted answers too.

Darry ignored him. He pulled Two-Bit aside. "Go call an ambulance," he whispered.

Two-Bit looked curiously at him.

"He's a soc."

Two-Bit took off. Darry was covering their asses. If they didn't call for help, the soc's parents would have them all in jail. But he didn't run too fast.

Darry turned back to the kid. He didn't know why he knew he was a Soc, he just knew for some reason. He circled his slowly, paused for effect, then reached down and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him up just enough to cause his legs to move slightly.

The kid screamed in agony.

Darry got right in his face. He clenched his teeth and stared into the kids eyes. "WHY?!"

The kid was starting to panic and he tried to form words, but he couldn't catch his breath.

"Why were you chasing after Johnny and Ponyboy? Answer me!"

And then something cllicked in Darry's mind. Something about the kids eyes. Recognition. He paused to put the name with the face. Then he smiled wickedly as he remembered. He looked over at Dallas, then down at the boy. "Why don't you turn and see who's behind you.... "Darry whispered menacingly.

The kid turned slightly and started shrieking the minute he saw Dallas. Darry got down and shoved the ski mask in his mouth. "Shut up! And I'm gonna have those boys turn him loose if you don't start telling me what I want to know!" 

Dally's dangerous look was replaced by one of surprise. He didn't recognize the guy, but Darry seemed to. And for whatever reason, the guuy seemed terrified of him.

Darry debated announcing his discovery, then decided, why not? "I want some answers.... Ricky."

*************

All right, you're all going to be mad, but not as mad as me... I revealed the ski mask guy now because unfortunately, the house we're building is sort of done and we have to move in on Thursday. The reason this is bad is we will not have internet access for possibly as long as a month. So that's about how long it will be before my next update, unless we can get the cable people to come out sooner. They claim they're "busy" and won't be able to get out to our house for quite some time. Anyhow, I thought I'd at least post this chapter so I didn't leave you hanging too much. I'm really sorry!! I hope you'll all pick up the story again when I can post another chapter! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I have enjoyed them so much. Hopefully, it won't be too long, but I just thought I should warn you!


	20. Chapter 18

Dally stared at Darry for a moment. He had stopped struggling while he tried to process the name. Ricky... Ricky... and then it hit him. Fortunately, Steve and Tim had know better than to let go of him, even for a second. He lunged at Ricky, but the boys held him back. 

Ricky yelped and cowered. 

Darry got down beside him, keeping his eyes on Dally for a minute. "Answers. You got me? All I have to do is say the word, and you get thrown to the lions." 

"All right...." Ricky's voice was almost inaudible.

"That's more like it," Darry said. He knew he had to hurry because the police and ambulances would be there any second. Although, with any luck, the fallen tree branches might slow them down. "Did you call the house while Johnny was home alone?"

"Yes."

"How did you know he was there alone?"

Ricky didn't answer right away. So Dally answered for him. This part he had figured out. "He could see him! From that damned pay phone on the corner! He was never in the house! You son of a- "Dally began cursing a blue streak at Ricky and struggling to break loose from Steve and Tim, who both immediately tightened their grip. 

"Is that true?" Darry asked.

Ricky nodded.

"All right, why? Why would you go after Johnny?"

Ricky was blubbering and could barely talk. But at this point, no one had any sympathy for him at all. "It started out as a joke...Everybody was so worked up about the stories on the news. We were just joking around..."

"But this went beyond a joke. When did things get out of control?"

"It started out when I called up the black haired kid-"

"His name is Johnny!" Steve yelled.

"Ok! Ok! Johnny... I called him up and scared him and then convinced him not to tell anyone. He wasn't the first one we scared- just the first one that we never let on the truth to... There were a couple times we scared some kids on the way home from school. We used the mask then, but I always took it off."

"Wait, what do you mean "we"?" Darry asked.

Dally jumped in. "Wait a minute... YOU were the one Johnny over heard in study hall talking to his friends saying that you saw a guy in a ski mask in the woods! You did that on purpose!" Dally said remembering suddenly. "And the ones you were talking to... there's other people in on this! Those two I saw in the woods just before the storm! Were those your friends? Where are your friends now? Huh?" 

Ricky howled and brought his hands up to his head as though he was sure Dally was going to attack him.

"Who were these friends?" Darry asked.

"The other guys that caught the real killer in the cemetery that day... Some of them. Paul and Mike... the others didn't want anything to do with it."

"How do you like that, Darry? Just like a soc, ratting out his friends..." Steve scoffed. He didn't care what someone was doing to him. He'd never turn his friends in.

Darry pressed on for more information. "So when did this get out of control? Because somewhere along the line you took a knife to our friend!"

"That phone call... that w-was going to be the end of it, but then I was skipping study hall and hanging out in the woods. I had the ski mask with me and the bla- Johnny! Johnny was there. I thought if I could convince him that I was the killer and that I hung out in the woods...."

"What??" Darry demanded. He could faintly hear sirens.

"I could get him to keep Ponyboy out of track practice...."

Darry processed this for a moment. The pieces were all starting to fit together. Ricky and Ponyboy ran track together. Ponyboy was pretty much the star of the track team, and from what Darry remembered of Ricky, that probably pissed him off. He had to be the best at everything. And the only thing standing in his way right now was Ponyboy.

"I... I wasn't going to hurt them! I was... just trying to ... scare them! I thought-"

"Wasn't going to hurt them?" Dally screamed. "What do you call what you did to Johnny? Did you see what you did to him? Not going to hurt them? I... you ... I'm gonna-" Dally was so indignant, he didn't even know what to say. 

"I-I didn't mean to! I only meant to-to scare him, it was an accident-"

This only infuriated Dally.

Darry could see that he needed to wrap this up and get Dally away from Ricky. If Dally got any more riled up than he already was, there was no telling what would happen.

"So you're telling me that you targeted Johnny so that he would keep Ponyboy from going to track practice? Because if he missed enough practices he wouldn't be as good as you, or maybe if you were really lucky, the coach would actually kick him off the team... Am I right?"

Ricky nodded, sobbing.

"And perhaps it might also have something to do with both boys'.... social status?"

Ricky didn't answer this time, he just kept bawling and trying to catch his breath.

Dally brought his knee up and got Tim right in the stomach and was able to get one arm free. He was close enough, if he lunged, to reach down and grab hold of Ricky's collar. He yanked as hard as he could and that was all he could do before Tim, who was laughing, had him in a choke hold.

Ricky howled again as his legs moved slightly from where they were pinned under the tree.

"Get him out of here," Darry said to Tim and Steve.

"No! I'm going to kill that asshole! Let go of me!" Dally started flailing and kicking in a desperate attempt to get to Ricky. Tim leaned forward just enough so Dally could get in a good kick in the head, but then pulled him back.

"Tim!" Darry warned.

"What? C'mon, Dar! You gotta give the guy somethin'!" Tim grinned. 

Ricky shrieked like a girl.

Tim laughed and helped Steve drag Dally off, still yelling and struggling. "This ain't over! You just TRY and get a good night's sleep, ass! I will be after you for the rest of your short life..." Dally continued, but the sirens drowned out most of what he was saying.

Darry watched them go. "All these years... you held on to that attitude that you're better than the rest of us because you moved to the other side of town... You and Soda used to be friends. And a little money changed all that. Well, I'd really have liked to just let Dally loose on you, but I think you've brought enough punishment on yourself without my help." Darry gave a little smirk. "It doesn't look like you'll be going to many more track meets."

Sirens stopped and car doors slammed. Darry leaned in for one more warning. "Now, out of the goodness of my lower class heart, I have sent for some ambulances, I have kept Dally from killing you and I have mustered enough restraint to keep from killing you myself. Perhaps you will find it in the goodness of your heart, if you have one, to leave those boys alone.... And if you don't, and I find out that you or your friends go near either one of those kids again, whether it be at school, in the park, on the street, anywhere... this mess you're in now will look like nothing. Do you understand? And I'm not as careless as Dally. I can make it look like an accident." He looked at Ricky with his cold, icy blue eyes and he knew Ricky would not be bothering Johnny or Ponyboy for a while.

*************************************************************************************

OK!! I have internet again, as you can see! A couple more chapters to wrap it all up, and this story is done!!

To the reviewers........

JLCollett - Yep, that's the kid Dally beat up in an earlier chapter! Thanks for sticking with my story all this time!

Joce- Thanks for reviewing!

Kimmerkay- The move went well, thank you! Just tough not having internet for a while. Hope this chapter answered your questions!

girlsdontcri- Yes, Ricky is BAD!!

DallysGirl4Life- Thanks! Glad you're still checking out the story!

CrazyLilDreamer- Thanks for sticking with the story... I probably should have let Dally kill Ricky. He's going to have all kinds of pent up rage now!

Deadly Wisteria- Thanks for reading! Check out Chapter 8 to see who Ricky is... it may be labeled Ch.9- it's the one with the flashback.

Mazz Ninja- How are you? I finally have internet again!! Thanks for reading!

Lillia E- Here's your update, hope you like it!

Melly- Thanks for the really nice review! I am flattered. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you are interested, I have one other story called "So You're Leaving" which I plan to update as soon as I finish this one! Thanks for reading.

Battosai Yuriko- Glad you're enjoying the story so far! Thanks for taking the time to review.

Kurupt emotions- Yes! The ski mask guy has been revealed! And now explained! Hopefully to everyone's satisfaction.... Thanks for reviewing and I am anxiously awaiting the update of "Nightmares"!

darkdestiny2000- Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Two-BitGortez- Thanks! I'm so glad you're still reading!

wisk8r- Yes, those cable people are no good! You know we waited ALL day one Saturday and they never showed up! And then we called to see where they were and they claimed that they came out and we weren't home!!! But it's OK, because when they finally came out the cable guy tripped and fell down the stairs! He was OK, but it serves them right!

JazzyUmbrella- Thank you for your nice review! I'm so glad you liked the story!

shyxshortiexbabe- Thanks! Glad you're enjoying the story!

Dreams of Magic- Yep, it was Ricky.... and now you know why!

Dollwithouteyes- Thank you so much for your help! You are a very handy source of information. I am sure I speak for everyone when I say your assistance is very much appreciated.


	21. chapter 19

Darry talked with the police officers for several minutes before joining Steve and Tim on the other side of the trees where they'd dragged Dally out of the way. Two-Bit had come running back by then and was standing hunched over with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. 

Dally was looking so full of anger that Darry wasn't sure that speaking to him would be such a good idea, but he figured he'd better just get it over with. Steve and Tim had finally let go of him. He was leaning up against a tree and the look of agony on his face that was masked by rage did not go unnoticed by anyone.

"There's an ambulance right over there, if you want to have a doctor take a look at you," Darry offered.

Dally offered his own response that Darry just ignored. He looked over at the three other boys. Wordlessly, he asked them for a few moments alone to talk to Dally. All three wandered off just out of earshot.

"Dally, I know you're mad,"

Dally stared at him, his eyes positively piercing. "MAD? You don't know anything. How the hell could you just let him walk away after what he did?"

Darry kept his voice calm. "In case you missed it, he wasn't exactly walking-"

"He should have to pay for what he did to Johnny! To YOUR brother! Don't you even care?"

Darry looked him square in the eyes. "What the hell kind of question is that? Of course I do! You know I do! That's why we have to let it go-"

"Let it go?!! No way! You might have protected him this time, but I'm not through!" Dally was out of his mind with anger. And now Darry was getting mad. But he still kept his wits about him. He knew Dally. And he knew where all this was stemming from.

"Protected him? Dally, listen to yourself! I was not protecting him, I was protecting Ponyboy and Johnny and, dammit, I was protecting you!"

Dally swore at him.

Darry grabbed him by the shirt collar. "You know where I'd be if I just let loose and gave that guy what he deserved? I'd be in jail and Pony and Soda would be on their way to a boys home. And if I'd let you go? You'd be in the back of that cop car, headed off to the cooler again. He's a Soc, Dally! You know as well as I do, there's NOTHING you can do."

"Look, I-"

"No, you look! There's a kid back there that needs us," Darry pointed in the direction of his house. "He needs YOU! He's got nobody at home, Dal. Did you see him? Did you see the look in his eyes? He was scared to death! How can you turn your back on him?"

"I'd never turn my back on Johnny!"

They were screaming at eachother. Steve, Two-Bit and even Tim looked around nervously. They couldn't be out of earshot now unless they walked all the way back to the Curtis house.

"That's what you'll be doing if you don't drop this! You're not going to be any help to Johnny in jail!" Darry yelled. But then, he lowered his voice and threw his hands up in the air. "You know what? Forget it. Go then. Johnny's got the rest of the gang to look out for him "

Dally started to yell something back at him, but suddenly caught his breath and cringed. He let out what started as a groan, but faded to more of a whimper.

Darry caught him as he started to fall to the ground. "Dally? Dally, c'mon, let's get you home..."

The other boys ran over to them.

"Steve, go get the truck,"Darry said as he and Tim carefully lifted Dally to his feet. 

Dally made a feeble attempt to fight them off, but he had no strength left. As he rose to his feet, a pain so intense shot through his side that he passed out cold.

Soda and Pony boy helped Johnny up stairs to the couch. They laid him down and Soda covered him with a blanket.

Ponyboy walked over to the window and looked out nervously. "Where are they?" he asked absently.

"Soda?" Johnny said weakly.

Soda got down beside him. "Yeah, buddy, I'm right here..."

"Soda, where's Dally and Darry? They didn't go back outside, did they?" Johnny was getting worked up.

"They'll be right back, don't worry. Look, you need to sleep, ok?"

Johnny tried to keep his eyes open but couldn't. His fever was burning and he had no energy left. 

I have to stay awake, he thought desperately. I have to tell Soda to stop them... make them come back inside...

Soda was gently stroking Johnny's forehead. Johnny was asleep within seconds.

When he awoke again, it was dark. It took a moment for him to remember all that had been going on, but when he did, his stomach sank. The last time he'd been awake, half the gang had gone out looking for the killer. He still had no idea how many had returned in one piece. The room was completely dark, except for one light that was on in the corner next to the chair where someone was sleeping.

Johnny rubbed his eyes and struggled to focus them. It was Darry. A little bit of relief swept over Johnny, but then he wondered, why is Darry out in the chair? Why not Steve? Or Two-Bit? Or...

Johnny swallowed hard, "Darry?" he was surprised at how quiet his own voice sounded.

Darry opened his eyes immediately and sat up. "Johnny?" Darry rubbed his eyes and came over to the couch. He sat down beside Johnny and touched his forehead. "How ya feelin' kid?"

Johnny searched Darry's face for any sign that anything bad had happened. Finding nothing he could identify as threatening, he relaxed only slightly and answered, "OK."

"Yeah? You hungry? You want anything?"

Johnny just looked at him. He was too afraid to ask.

"What?" Darry grinned a little. He was playing with him. "Oh, you want to know what we found?"

But Johnny was in no mood for games. And he was still half asleep. He couldn't fathom why Darry would be joking around with him. In his dreaming mind, everyone had been cut into pieces by the Tulsa Ripper and he'd been alone until that very moment. And quite frankly, he was completely terrified.

Darry caught the look in Johnny's eyes as he had started to tease him. "Oh, hey... what's the matter, kiddo? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- what's the matter?" Darry sat closer to him put his arm around him. 

Johnny just looked at him with big, scared eyes. "Is everybody..." he didn't want to ask.

Darry just waited.

Johnny took a deep breath and just blurted it out. "Is everybody ok?"

Darry turned to face Johnny and took him by the shoulders. "Oh! Johnny, yes! Yes, everyone's fine. My gosh kid, I forgot, you were asleep! I'm sorry."

Johnny's shoulders sagged in relief. He wanted to cry, but you just didn't do that in front of Darry.

But Darry could tell. He hugged Johnny. "Everybody's ok, baby. We're all fine. I'm sorry! There was so much going on when we all came home, so much noise and goofing around that I forgot nobody filled you in. But everybody's fine."

Johnny just took another deep breath and looked gratefully at Darry.

Darry grinned at him. "And you're gonna be ok, too. Let me get you something to eat and I'll explain the whole thing. You hungry?"

Johnny nodded.

Darry weht to the kitchen and brought back a half of a sandwich for Johnny and the other half for himself. He sat up with Johnny for about an hour, telling him all the details of what had gone on. He told him about Ricky and how his little "prank" had gotten way out of hand and about the police and the ambulances and about how mad Dally had been. Darry noticed eventually that everytime he mentioned Dally being mad, Johnny would eat a little slower until finally, he stopped eating all together and just put his head in his hands and groaned.

"Johnny?" Darry looked at him, confused. "Do you feel sick, buddy?"

Johnny shook his head and looked up. He didn't look sick, only sad.

"He was mad before he even walked out the door. He's really pissed at me."

"Oh, he'll get over it!" Darry said, obviously not taking the situationn as seriously as Johnny. But then, upon seeing Johnny's forlorn expression, he added, "And he's not mad at you..."

Johnny looked at him, not convinced.

"Well, not exactly... See it's kind of like me and Soda or Ponyboy. When they do something that scares me, it REALLY makes me mad, you dig? I just don't want anything bad to happen to them. That's how it is with Dally. You scared him- but don't tell him I told you that."

"Oh, I already know. He told me himself."

Darry forced his jaw not to drop, but he couldn't keep the disbelief out of his voice. "He did?"

Johnny shot a guilty glance at him then, as though he'd let out a secret.

Darry composed himself, though he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to actually hear Dallas Winston admit to being scared. "Well, there. You see? That's all it is then. He'll be fine! I never stay mad at Ponyboy or Soda."

Johnny shook his head. "Dally ain't like you. He stays mad at stuff for a long time."

Darry laughed. That was true. He looked down at Johnny. "But not at you, kid."

"Where is he now?"

"Over at Buck's probably."

Johnny paused. "Has he been by?"

Darry sighed. This had bothered him a little too. "Not yet, but he was hurtin' pretty bad.... I kind of...uh... may have cracked a few of his ribs when I had to tackle him. He's probably sleeping it off." Darry looked guiltily at Johnny.

Johnny's eyes widened.

"He's fine, kid. We taped him up and he left. He refused to go to the hospital. And I think he's probably more mad at me than you right now." 

But it was not like Dally to stay too far away when anything was wrong with Johnny, and that had concerned Darry. He didn't say anything to Johnny, but he intended to go find him if he didn't show up by morning.

"But he'll come around," Darry added.

Johnny doubtfully met his gaze.

"Trust me," Darry said and ruffled Johnny's hair. "Now finish up your snack and lie down and get some sleep. Everything's all right now."

Johnny did what he was told. He was still exhausted, but the last thing on Earth he wanted to do was go back to sleep. 


	22. Chapter 20

Thank you all so much for reading my story. I truly enjoyed reading all your encouraging reviews. I am so sad that this is my last chapter! BUT I do intend to add several more chapters to "So You're Leaving" after this. I have a pretty involved story thought out for that so I will have something to keep me busy! So, I hope you all enjoy this last chapter and thank you again for all the reviews. They really mean a lot!

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The man in the mask was getting closer. Johnny could hear his breathing, hear his footsteps pounding on the ground behind him.... closer... closer...Johnny couldn't make his legs move fast enough. It was as though he had weights tied to his feet. With each step, he got slower and slower, while his heart beat faster.

And then the man was upon him, dragging him to the ground. The cold blade of the knife was against his face, just below his eye.

It's just Ricky again, he told himself. 

But it wasn't. Not this time. This time it was the real deal.

The man began to laugh. His breath smelled like whiskey. Johnny closed his eyes, but he could still see everything. He felt the onset of panic.

"It's all over for you greaser.... No one can help you now!"

Dally, Johnny thought.

The man laughed harder, and as though he had read Johnny's thoughts, he whispered, "Not this time!" and his voice rose. "Dally's not going to protect you anymore! He doesn't care what happens to you!"

Johnny struggled, but he couldn't get up. He lifted his head just far enough to see someone standing a few feet away. It was Dally.

Dally looked down at him. And then he turned and walked away.

Out of the corner of his eye, Johnny saw the knife rise high in the air.

"Dally!!" he tried to scream. But it came out as more of a whimper as he sat straight up on the couch, sweat dripping from his forehead, his whole body shaking.

"What?" came a voice from beside him.

Johnny jumped and turned to see Dally standing next to the couch. He let out his breath in relief, but his relief quickly turned to uneasyness. The last time Dally had spoken to him he'd been pretty angry. Johnny lowered his eyes. "N..nothing.." he replied quietly.

Dally turned carefully and sat down on the edge of the couch. He closed his eyes tightly for a moment, the only indication he gave that the movement had caused him extreme pain.

Johnny watched him cautiously. He didn't seem mad, but sometimes with Dally it was hard to tell. Usually, it was fairly obvious, but sometimes you didn't know until it was too late. 

"Were you dreamin', kid?"

Johnny nodded, his big, black eyes filled with worry.

Dally looked back at him, trying to read his expression. Johnny didn't talk much, so most of the gang had pretty much figured out how to know what he was thinking by the look in his eyes.

"I ain't mad at you anymore." Dally said finally.

Johnny glanced at him. 

They were both quiet for a moment.

"I... I'm sorry you got hurt and all... and .. that I made you mad." Johnny offered.

"Shoot, kid. This ain't anything," Dally grinned proudly. Johnny knew he meant it. Dally had been hurt far worse. "And, uh.. I shouldn't have been mad. You were just tryin' to keep Ponyboy out of trouble. That's cool... It took guts. I'd.. I'd have done the same thing. You're a brave kid, you dig?"

Johnny looked at him in surprise. His eyes glowed for a moment.

Dally shifted his weight uncomfortably and looked at his feet. "You, uh... you really need to get some sleep, kid, " he said, changing the subject. And he noticed that Johnny was still pretty shaken up. "You're gonna end up like Ponyboy. That kid hasn't slept through the night in a long time, according to Soda. What were you dreaming about?"

Johnny turned nervously towards the window. He's gone, now, he thought to himself. But that wasn't really the part of the dream that had bothered him the most.

"I was dreaming about some guy in a ski mask trying to kill me," Johnny sighed, stating it in a way that implied- what else would I be dreaming about?

Dally studied him. The problem with the gang learning how to read him was that when they got good at it, like Dally had, there was NOTHING he could hide from them. "What else?" Dally asked.

Johnny looked away from him. He paused a minute. Dally waited. "Uh... you... you were in the dream, too."

"Yeah? Did I kick his ---- ass like I should have if someone hadn't stepped in?" Dally asked, emphasizing the word 'someone' with a slight note of anger in his voice. He was not upset at Darry for stopping him anymore. He'd gotten over that, and he knew Darry was right. But Dally still wished he'd able to get in at least one good punch.

Johnny grinned slightly. "No," he said. He wished he could just stop there, but Dally was waiting for an answer. And besides, it felt better to be talking to someone. He was too worked up to go back to sleep. "You were walking away..."

"You mean, while the guy was trying to kill you?"

Johnny cringed. "Y-yeah. I mean, it's nothing, it was just a dream."

"That's right it was just a dream. Look at me-"

Johnny met his gaze. 

Dally looked directly into his eyes with the expression he always wore when he really meant business. "That would never happen. I'd never turn my back on you, Johnnycake."

Johnny leaned back against the pillow. "I know," he said. And he believed it. 

Dally got up and went into the kitchen. "Damn," Johnny heard him say. 

He came back into the livingroom carrying two glassed with spoons in them, a bottle of milk, and a box of chocolate powder.

Johnny laughed. "No beer?"

"No!" Dally said, scowling. "And I hate this stuff, but these bums haven't been to the store in a week and this is all there is."

Johnny was inwardly relieved. He liked chocolate milk as much as Ponyboy and Soda. He didn't like beer. The last time Dally'd given him one to help him sleep, he hadn't even finished it. He was lucky it hadn't spilled all over the couch. And he never did figure out where it had gone, because in the morning, it wasn't in his hand anymore. 

They made their drinks in silence. Then Dally sat down on the floor beside the couch. It took him a bit longer than usual to get comfortable, and even then he still felt the dull pain in his side.

"Did I ever tell you about the time back in New York when Charlie sneaked me into the theater to see this movie that I really wanted to see?" Dally asked. "It was a horror film. Man, I think I woke Charlie up every night for a month after that!"

Johnny looked at him. Dally had his back to him, as he was leaning up against the sofa, and Johnny figured that was a good thing. Had Dally seen the look of surprise on Johnny's face at his offer to share a story about his past that did not involve jail or a gang fight, he probably would have shut right up and not said another word. So Johnny just replied casually, "No, I.... never heard that story," and stirred his drink.

"Man, Charlie... THAT was a tough hood, let me tell you," Dally said and cursed Charlie good naturedly.

Johnny leaned back against the pillow and listened.

After a while, Dally started talking slower and slower until he stopped talking all together. His head had flopped back against the couch cushions and his mouth hung open, emitting only the sound of his breathing and an occasional snore.

"Dal?" Johnny grinned. He shook his head and leaned back against the pillow and closed his eyes. He felt better. And he figured he was probably through with the nightmares now. 

When Darry found them in the morning, this time Johnny's glass was empty and Dally's was still full. He sighed and picked up both glasses and took them to the kitchen. He stared at the glasses, wondering why he even bothered. He knew that both of them would wake up in about an hour, wonder vaguely about where the glasses went and then go on about their day. Two-Bit would come over later and probably spill something on the carpet anyway and if he didn't, Pony, Soda or Steve would track mud all through the house from an afternoon football game.

Darry looked back into the livingroom and a big grin spread across his face. It was good to have things back to normal.


End file.
